Have You Been Saved or Vaccinated?

             Have You Been Saved or Vaccinated?

      When I use the word saved in the South everyone knows what I'm talking about. They have all been saved usually as a child at Vacation Bible school, summer church camps, Sunday School, Backyard Bible clubs, youth revivals, etc. When you ask a Northerner "have you been saved?" you might get "saved from what?", "I didn't know I was drowning", "No, but I've been reserved" or multiple other answers because it is not a part of their culture like it is in the Bible Belt. The danger of that, here in the south, is that they might not really be saved but just vaccinated. Let me explain using the parable of the sower found in Matthew 13, Mark 4, and Luke 8.
        In this parable, the sower sews seed that falls in four areas - the path, the rocky soil, the weed patch, and good soil.The plights of the seed are trampling on, light growth until the sun burns it out for lack of root growth, choking the early growth out by the weeds blocking the sun and taking the nutrients, and exponential growth respectively. Jesus later tells the meaning. The sower is anyone who shares the gospel of Christ (seed). The gospel is this
       1. God created us to be in relationship with Him
       2. Man is sinful and separated from a Holy God who can't be in the presence of sin
       3. God became a man (Jesus) and lived a sinless life. He paid the penalty for our sins by dying on the cross, rose to life, and ascended into Heaven to be our advocate
       4. By faith we receive His death for the forgiveness of our sins
       5. He sends the Holy Spirit into our hearts to change us into His image
       6. Out of gratitude we live the rest of our life not for ourselves but to please Him
       7. When we die we get to live with Him forever in Heaven rather than experiencing Hell
The path is anyone who hears the gospel and ignores it. The rocky soil is the person who receives the gospel and is initially changed but then because of persecution, being left out, being odd decides to opt out. The thorny soil also receives it initially but the things of this world such as money, fame, pleasure, power, comfort become more important than following Christ and denying self and they, whether they realize it or not, opt out. The last soil allows the gospel to grow in their lives. they receive it and their life changes.They tell others, they enter into close fellowship with Jesus and fellow believers. They start manifesting the fruit of the Spirit - love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance. They start putting their treasures in Heaven rather than banks. They start living for eternity rather than vacations, weekends, retirement, football hunting or fishing seasons.
            In our office, we offer vaccinations. What is a vaccine? Usually it consists of a virus that has been inactivated. It tricks the body into thinking that it has been infected and the body builds up antibodies. Then when the real thing comes along the body won't be infected but fights it off. The Bible Belt, and I say this in love because there are many more Christians here than in the North, in general has been vaccinated with an inactive form of the gospel and they are immune to the real thing. Evangelists have taken #7 from above, put it in a message and had us swallow it like the polio vaccine. Then we write the day we took it in our Bible knowing it is a vaccine that lasts for life and we are saved. Right? This parable says, no! Matt. 7:21-23 and Luke 13:25 -27 say, no!

   Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. ²² Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ ²³ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’
‘Sir, open the door for us.’
“But he will answer, ‘I don’t know you or where you come from.’
²⁶ “Then you will say, ‘We ate and drank with you, and you taught in our streets.’
²⁷ “But he will reply, ‘I don’t know you or where you come from. Away from me, all you evildoers!’

   When we are "infected" by the true, full gospel our lives change. We are seized by the power of a greater affection. We live for God not ourselves. We live for the kingdom of Heaven not the kingdom of Earth. We start viewing ourselves as strangers and aliens and short timers here on this planet. Getting to know Christ and worshipping Him become our priorities. Our job becomes the evangelization of the planet and our vocation becomes the means, gifts, and talents by which we do it.
         When a Bible Belt person hears this message they invariably say, "you're right, I need to start witnessing, reading my Bible, praying and going to Church more regularly." No!(and yes I suppose) What you need is to get saved. I don't need to go home from work and say, "well, I guess I need to spend time with my wife and talk to her tonight" Why not? Because I'm married to her and love her and that's what I want to do. I don't say, well I better watch some NFL today. Why not? Because I love football. Similarly, if you got saved to avoid Hell and go to Heaven you have missed the true gospel and that is receiving and following Jesus out of love for what He did for you and hatred of the life of darkness you used to live.
         How does one "catch" the real thing when everything in their body is rejecting it? It's tough. It's God working on their heart to show them they are lost. How are people getting the flu this winter when they have all been vaccinated? They are getting a different strain of the virus. Maybe we need to present the gospel more correctly. We are commanded in 2Cor.13 to examine ourselves to see if we are in the faith. Are you examining yourselves? I Can examine you and give my verdict. In fact that's what I do all day - try to determine who is really sick and who isn't. Who is telling the truth and who just wants drugs. Here is how I would go about it. First I would look at your Facebook profile. If being a Republican is the closest I can get to connecting the dots that tells me something. Then I would look at your checkbook and see where your treasures are going to. Then I would ask your kids a few questions like do your parents teach you about Jesus? Do you see your parents reading the Bible or praying? I think that would be enough to diagnose 90% correctly because only God knows the heart.
          But it isn't my job to judge you - that is between you and God. Examine yourselves to see which soil you are. Examine yourself to see if you have really been saved for just taken in a fragment of the whole gospel . Get saved today!