How Good Do You Have To Be?

Its a long one this week, so grab some coffee before you start.

I did something the other day I am normally very careful about. On my way to town, I saw a man hitchhiking on the side of the road. I said a quick prayer, “God, should I stop?” This time, I felt very strongly that I should.

As he got in, I took the time to notice him. Ok, I was watching for a gun or knife or something. I knew God had lead me to give him a ride and that God would take care of me for obeying, but that doesn’t mean this guy doesn’t have free will and that I should just throw caution out the window. He was in his 60’s. He had a long, blond beard that ended in the middle of his chest. He had long hair that was near the same length of his beard, but he was bald on the top. “Hi my name’s Jake” he said as he got in. (That’s not his real name, I’m just using it to be safe.) “I’m Jon.” I said with a smile.

Jake proceeded to tell me lots of things about his life. How he couldn’t wait to get out of Tennessee, how his parents had died and left everything to his younger brother, how he couldn’t drive because he owe 3 different states money and they wouldn’t let him get a driver’s license, how his sister had cheated him out of $40,000, and many other tales. Jake liked to talk apparently. So, I listened. But what Jake said next really broke my heart. “I’ll tell you this,” Jake said with a cold, harsh look in his eyes, “I’ll be at the pearly gates of heaven to point my sister to Hell!” I was shocked. How do you respond to that? What do you say?

I asked Jake, “Why would you do that? I know she didn’t do you right, but you would see her spend eternity in Hell?” “I was raised (Mystery Religion here, heh) and I believe that God put us on Earth to see if we could be good enough to get back to Heaven with Him.” I sat there a moment, praying “God, what do I say?” I asked the only question I could think of, “How good do you have to be?” A bit bewildered, as if he had never been asked that question before, he looked at me and asked, “What?” I repeated the question, making an extra effort to be polite. “Well, I don’t know. No one knows.” Jake replied.

“What a hopeless way to live.” I thought to myself. Here was a gentleman who had seen lots of trouble. Sure, he may have made some decisions that lead him to the place in life he was, but right now he was living day in and day out with no hope. Everything he had in the past, almost everyone he knew, and almost everything about his life was either letting him down or hurting him. He was truly hopeless. “God, what do I say?” I asked again.

“Well, I know.” I responded. “I don’t think anyone can be ‘good enough.’ I believe the Bible and it says in Romans 3:23 that ‘ALL have sinned and come short of the glory of God.’ So there is no way that we can be good enough to redeem ourselves to a perfect God. I believe God saw that and sent His son, Jesus, to pay the debt that I never could. Jesus gave his life so that you, or me, or anyone who accepted Him as their Savior could be sure they have hope for this life and the next.”

Jake rolled his eyes, and said, “Yeah, I’ve heard that before. I don’t buy it.”
I don’t understand that train of thought. Jake would rather live with no hope, with what he was taught, than to look in the Bible and find the truth or listen to a possibility that there may be hope here for him. Its also a big reason I hate, I know that is a strong word and I mean it, I hate false doctrine about my God. It confuses and hinders people from knowing the true nature of God.

As Jake got out, he shook my hand and said, “God bless.” I smiled back and said, “I’ll pray for you, Jake.” For a bit, I felt like I had failed. Like I didn’t get through to Jake. But that’s not my job. I shared the Truth with him. I planted the seed. Now my prayer for Jake is this: “God, water that seed. Holy Spirit, nourish that seed. Jesus, grow that seed. Remove the scales from Jake’s eyes, Jesus, let him see You for who You really are.”

In Christ,
jon walton

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