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Our Compelling Passion
2 Corinthians 5:11-6:2 

Introduction: Parable of a Firefighter

Once there was a little boy who ever since he could remember wanted to be a fireman. The shrill of the siren and the deep rumble of the racing fire-truck had filled his dreams almost every night. Deep in his heart there was a longing to someday be able to help people; to save people from the ravaging grasp of a fire. It was not the whim of childhood. His was the unmistakable call of destiny.

Growing up never changed his mind.

To be sure, he had gone through the indecision and doubts of adolescence, the well-meaning questions of friends and family who “wondered whether he could be happy as a fireman.” But he never wavered. He was to be a fireman. He was to put out fires.

Oh, how he longed for the day when he would no longer be a spectator, but could participate actively as a fire-fighter. Now all he could do was watch.

Then the big day arrived. He was accepted at one of the best fireman schools in the country. For three years he immersed himself in his schooling. He spent hours honing his skills on practice fires. He studied firefighting theory long into the nights. His teachers were world-renowned.

But still after all these years he had never fought a real fire. As graduation approached, he realized that long-awaited moment was within reach.

But suddenly he began to have doubts. For the first time in his life he was unsure, afraid, and worse yet, questioning whether he ought to be a fireman at all.

It was then that one of his professors suggested he travel to Europe and study under one of the greatest fireman theorists of all time…

The not-so-little boy decided to travel to Europe, and for two years he exhausted himself in dedicated study and became one of the most brilliantly educated firemen in the world. But all he had ever done was put out practice fires. Once again, graduation loomed before him. And, once again, he was haunted by indecision. He knew all about fires and could tell anyone how to fight one ,but he was hesitant, perhaps a little frightened, to actually get personally involved…

It was then that he was offered a position to teach at one of the most respected fireman’s schools in the country. He accepted.

And for twenty-five years he taught with honors and received recognition worldwide. He died last year and when they read his memoirs they came across a strange passage written while on his deathbed:

I lie here today reviewing my life. I still remember my dream, my passion to be a fireman. More than anything else I wanted to put out fires…but I realized something today. I have never put out a real fire. NEVER.

                                                Mike Yaconelli, The Little Boy Who Wanted To Fight Fires

Why do firefighters exist? They exist to put out fires. Why do churches exist? Churches exist to share a life-changing message that God is, in Christ, reconciling the world to Himself. Churches exist to tell others about Jesus.

I hope the parallels between the parable of the would-be firefighter and sharing the message God has given to us with other people are obvious. As Christians we can believe all the right things, we can take all the right classes and make all the right statements and we can completely miss actually participating in sharing the gospel message with others.

Most of us have room for improvement—probably significant improvement—in this matter of talking to others about our faith in Christ. Some of us, in fact, may need to make some significant adjustments so we won’t end up at the conclusion of life regretting how little we have done to tell others about Jesus.

My purpose this morning isn’t to preach a guilt-producing message. It might stir some guilt, but that isn’t my purpose. My purpose is to provide a fresh perspective about the tremendous opportunity we have been given to share God’s Good News. The opportunity becomes clear as we realize the presence of Jesus among us.

In fact, the conviction that Jesus is present in His church compels believers to introduce Him to others. That’s the point we need to carry with us from this place of worship this morning, so let me repeat that and make it more personal. The conviction that Jesus is present in His church compels each of us to introduce Him to others. This is the truth contained in our passage for the morning, written by Paul where he expresses our compelling passion.

2 Corinthians 5:11-6:2

Since, then, we know what it is to fear the Lord, we try to persuade men. What we are is plain to God, and I hope it is also plain to your conscience. We are not trying to commend ourselves to you again, but are giving you an opportunity to take pride in us, so that you can answer those who take pride in what is seen rather than in what is in the heart. If we are out of our mind, it is for the sake of God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you. For Christ's love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.

So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

2 Corinthians 6

As God's fellow workers we urge you not to receive God's grace in vain. For he says,  "In the time of my favor I heard you, and in the day of salvation I helped you." I tell you, now is the time of God's favor, now is the day of salvation.

The Motivation For Telling Others About Jesus

Our Negative Motivation: Fear of the Lord (5:11-13)

Since, then, we know what it is to fear the Lord, we try to persuade men. What we are is plain to God, and I hope it is also plain to your conscience.   2 Corinthians 5:11 NIV

Fear is an emotion we all know. We know it through the fear of heights, fear of the unknown, fear of tight places or fear of failure. The motivator here is the fear of the Lord. This involves awe and reverence as we realize He is God and we aren’t. This is the respect of a person who knows the Lord well and realizes the Father has assigned a specific responsibility and expects follow through. There is a clear sense of accountability.

What prompts this statement about the fear of the Lord? It is the thought expressed just prior.

Our only goal is to please God whether we live here or there, because we must all stand before Christ to be judged. Each of us will receive what we should get—good or bad—for the things we did in the earthly body.                                     2 Corinthians 5:9-10 NCV

Judgment is real and will be faced by each of us. In this case this isn’t judgment involving our eternal destiny resulting in either heaven or hell. This is the judgment of our works where it will be determined if we have been using gold, silver and precious stones that last or wood, hay and straw that will be destroyed. In order to be ready for that judgment Paul says, “We try to persuade men.”

Fear of the Lord may be a negative motivator but it is a necessary one. There is also a positive motivator.

Our Positive Motivation: Love of the Lord (5:14-15)

For Christ's love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died.                                                                 2 Corinthians 5:14 NIV

Jesus’ love for us compels us. His love sent Him to the Cross where He died for all.

The New Living Translation expresses the clear meaning.

Either way, Christ’s love controls us. Since we believe that Christ died for all, we also believe that we have all died to our old life. He died for everyone so that those who receive his new life will no longer live for themselves. Instead, they will live for Christ, who died and was raised for them.   2 Corinthians 5:14-15 NLT

We have a message to share with people who still don’t understand what it means for Christ to die and be raised again for them. His love for us compels us, impels us and propels us to share that life changing message with others.

Because He loves us so much, we love Him in return. While fear of the Lord motivates us to do what is expected of us, our love relationship with Him motivates us to do it joyfully. We understand this from our relationships with other people. We can do jobs like washing the windows or cleaning our rooms dutifully because we have to and fear the consequences of not doing so. Or, we can do those same jobs joyfully because we love the other person and desire to please them. It works the same way with telling others about Jesus. There are times when we tell others because we know that’s what we should do and then there are times when we tell others because we just can’t keep ourselves from telling others about how great God’s love is for us. As you grow in Christ you will find yourself sharing God’s Good News more because you want than because you know you ought to.

The Message To Tell Others About Jesus

Whether it be on a trip to the Dominican Republic or a trip to the neighborhood grocery store, the message is still the same.

So we have stopped evaluating others from a human point of view. At one time we thought of Christ merely from a human point of view. How differently we know him now! This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!                                                                                                                                  2 Corinthians 5:16-17 NLT

The general summary of our message is: Anyone who belongs to Jesus has become a new person. In Christ you become a new person with new values, new direction, new interests, sometimes new friends and most definitely a new destiny. You are completely remade from the inside out.

Two words in our passage identify more specifically how this occurs. The first word is reconciled.

All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation                                                   2 Corinthians 5:18 NIV

Notice that as a verb reconciled is in the past tense. This points to a specific time when you were reconciled to God. That point was when you trusted—or will trust—Christ as your Savior.

Be aware as well that the word reconciled means God has made peace between you and Himself. There used to be a war where you and I were part of the system that was separated from God and opposed to Him. Because of what Jesus did on the Cross the war is over. God became your friend.

This is startling. Imagine that at the moment when American troops entered Baghdad to topple the statue of Saddam Hussein that the next scene would have been Presidents Bush and Hussein embracing each other as friends. That is the picture God wants us to see when He reconciles us. We were enemies, but now we’re friends. The change is dramatic.

John Wesley helps us understand what happens with his own conversion. Wesley came to America from England as a missionary only to find out that he wasn’t a believer. When he returned to England he describes what happened to him on Aldersgate Street in London when he met God and, as he says, his heart was strangely warmed. He writes, “That day I was reconciled. I was at a distance, now brought near.”

If you have never been brought near, what keeps you from doing so? Whether it be the fear of the Lord that drives you or the love of God that compels you, accept His free gift of reconciliation.

When we become a new creation, we are not only reconciled, but we are also made righteous (our second word).

God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.                                                       2 Corinthians 5:21 NIV

This is the clearest expression of justification in the Bible. Jesus who was sinless took our sin and, in exchange, gave us who were sinners His righteousness. That’s quite a trade—for us!

This is a picture taken in the courtroom where we see ourselves standing guilty in God’s court of righteousness. God, however, looks at us as though we have never committed a single sin because Jesus has taken our punishment and given us His righteousness. This is the most incredible news in the history of humanity. So, who has the privilege of telling others this phenomenal good news? Angels? No, God chose us to tell others. We are…

The Messengers To Tell Others

And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to himself through Christ. And God has given us this task of reconciling people to him. For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation.                                      2 Corinthians 5:18-19 NLT

When you want to sell a product you can advertise in one of two ways. You can feature a spokesman for the product trying to convince the potential customer how good the product is or you can feature a satisfied customer sharing about the benefits of the product. After the Resurrection of Jesus, God has used the satisfied customer approach. We who have experienced reconciliation tell others. This is word of mouth of advertising where those who have been changed by Jesus are those who share the good news best.

I started thinking about who would be considered the most dramatic conversion in my lifetime. Who is that person who went from being more like Saul the persecutor to Paul the apostle? I finally selected Charles Colson who was at the center of the Watergate scandal that forced the resignation of President Richard Nixon. In his book Born Again, he tells how he went from an international powerbroker to prison inmate and from a hard hearted skeptic to a transformed believer. As a result of his experiences he founded Prison Fellowship. He provided easy material for skeptical cartoonists and late night talk show comedians. After a year, however, the jokes stopped and people started to listen. He has influenced millions of people who not only hear what he says but see the difference Christ makes. He is living proof that satisfied customers are the best messengers.

Being a satisfied customer is good but being a representative of the King is great! That’s what it means to be an ambassador.

So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come back to God!”                      2 Corinthians 5:20 NLT

An ambassador is a messenger for and a representative of the ruler. The ambassador represents the ruler and speaks his message. As Christians we are Christ’s ambassadors. We represent the Kingdom of Heaven. Our behavior and example affect the image of the kingdom and the ruler we represent as we plead with others, “Come back to God!”

The Methods Of Telling Others

Two Types of People

When it comes to telling others about God’s message of reconciliation there are two types of people. There are people like the Apostle Paul, or Mike Silva, who are the proclamation type soul-winners. Paul clearly presents the approach.

Because we understand our fearful responsibility to the Lord, we work hard to persuade others. God knows we are sincere, and I hope you know this, too.

                                                                                                2 Corinthians 5:11 NLT

The other type of person is the people-bringer. This person is more like Philip, one of Jesus’ disciples. After meeting Jesus,

Philip went to look for Nathanael and told him, “We have found the very person Moses and the prophets wrote about! His name is Jesus, the son of Joseph from Nazareth.” “Nazareth!” exclaimed Nathanael. “Can anything good come from Nazareth?” “Come and see for yourself,” Philip replied.                                                                                   John 1:45-46 NLT

Everyone can be a people-bringer. That’s much of what we will be doing in Azua this next week. We will invite people to come and hear what Mike Silva preaches. There will also be times when we will be privileged to speak and invite people to come back to God.

Two Points of Methodology

In fulfilling the incredible privilege God gives us as His ambassadors there are two key points of methodology we need to keep in mind whether we are representing our heavenly King in Minnesota or the Dominican Republic. The first is to possess God’s view of people. Paul understood the sweeping reality that Christ died for all people.

So we have stopped evaluating others from a human point of view. At one time we thought of Christ merely from a human point of view. How differently we know him now!

                                                                                                2 Corinthians 5:16 NLT

We make the mistake of seeing people as they are. We think there is no way they can ever change. That may be true, but even if it is, they are not beyond the grace of God. We need to see people not as they are, but as what God can make them. Never ever underestimate what God can do.

The second point of methodology is to possess God’s sense of urgency. Hear the urgency in Paul’s words.

We were sent to speak for Christ, and God is begging you to listen to our message. We speak for Christ and sincerely ask you to make peace with God. Christ never sinned! But God treated him as a sinner, so that Christ could make us acceptable to God. We work together with God, and we beg you to make good use of God's kindness to you. In the Scriptures God says, "When the time came, I listened to you, and when you needed help, I came to save you." That time has come. This is the day for you to be saved.                                                                                                                                                            2 Corinthians 5:20—6:2 CEV

Paul begged them to listen because he knew this was the day for them to be saved.

What drains us of our sense of urgency? I see at least three factors.

Pseudo Universalism: This is when we live like we aren’t really convinced that people without Christ are bound for hell. There simply is no urgency to share.

Churchianity: This is when we become so wrapped up in church that we have very little contact with those who are not Christians. We might share about Jesus—if we only had someone with whom to share.

Fortress Mentality: This is when we have to make sure we are right and pure. Therefore, we must limit contact with anyone who isn’t part of our version of orthodoxy.

We forget too easily that truth is first experienced, then lived and finally communicated. It happens to us, in us and through us. Paul urges us to possess God’s view of people and to communicate compassionately and urgently that each and every person can come back to God because today is the day for you to be saved.

Conclusion: Life Is Tenuous

Life is so tenuous. No one can be sure if we will still be here tomorrow. Jesus counseled His disciples to look around them because the fields were ripe and ready for harvest. There are people you know waiting for a representative of the King. They need someone to…

·         Build a bridge of understanding

·         Share a helpful book with them

·         Be their friend

·         Say, “Come and see.”

Why should we do this? Christ’s love compels us. As we become more aware that He is with us we will want to introduce Him to others. We will want to know if our friends know our best friend—Jesus.

A firefighter lives to do one thing—to put out fires. A Christian lives to… I think you know. So, let’s take on the privilege of being ambassadors of Christ like it is the most important assignment we will ever be given. After all, it is.