This article is going to be a little different. Normally, our goal and intentions are to inspire Christian men to seek a more personal and intimate relationship with Jesus Christ. We presume there is already both a willingness and desire by the person reading what we publish to grow closer to God. It makes what we do a lot easier.
Today, I’ll do the writing, but as a part of the audience at Joshua’s Outpost, I need you to share the article. If you have been following us for long, there’s a good chance what I’m writing won’t be relevant to you. That being said, I would bet there is someone you know and are hopefully praying for that may want to read this. Someone that you’d give anything if they’d give Jesus a chance.
The reason they have abandoned the God idea doesn’t matter. Within the coming weeks, I hope that with one of these articles I’m able to write something that will hit home with them. That leads to how you can help. First, I need you to share this with the individual. That means, if you’re reading this because someone has sent this to you, the person is praying for you more than you will ever know.
They care for you enough that they aren’t concerned with simply pleasing your feelings and telling you what you want to hear. They care about your soul. Also, if you are sending this to someone or someone has sent the article to you, feel free to contact us about something specific we can write about.
I spend a lot of time talking with men who don’t consider themselves “Christians.” More often than not, it’s not so much that they don’t believe or have an issue with something they have been taught at church or have read in the Bible. They simply have made enough poor decisions in a row that in their mind, they are too far gone. Man, life happens. One bad choice leads to another. They started out on a journey they had an idea wasn’t going to end well, but instead of turning back, they kept going deeper and deeper.
Addiction
Maybe this started as a pill you were prescribed to help with the pain. You just did what the doctor told you and the pain continued getting stronger and stronger, leading you to a higher dose or a stronger drug.
Or, maybe alcohol was something you simply started drinking to socialize. You’ve always been a quiet person. A couple of beers simply helped you loosen up and spend time out of the house with friends and coworkers. That was years ago, and now you simply can’t even function without a drink or taking a pill that was originally prescribed by a doctor. You didn’t care about long term effects; you simply wanted the pain to go away. Now, you’re so wrapped up in the grips of addiction that you don’t see a way out.
You’ve tried everything. You have been to meetings and been a part of small groups. You had never been in trouble before but now drugs and alcohol have landed you in jail and with a past, there’s no way God is going to get over what you’ve done.
Divorce
Maybe, it’s not an addiction that took you somewhere you didn’t want to go. A divorce has dragged you so far away from the cross you can’t even imagine Jesus being ok with you to come crawling back. It doesn’t matter who was at fault. Both of you allowed anger and a broken heart to transform you into someone you never wanted to become.
No, you didn’t mean the things you said or did. You simply allowed your anger to take control. Now you’re so sorry for the hurt and pain that has been caused. This isn’t what you wanted at all. But, there’s that one person or group of people at your church who have made sure you know how horrible of a person you are because of your divorce. According to them, if you would have simply known Jesus or your Bible better, things would have never ended this way.
Jesus is against divorce and because you have allowed your marriage to end in failure, He doesn’t want you anywhere around. He obviously wasn’t important to you then and for you to come crawling back to church now would simply be trying to take the easy way out. You let the entire church down. There’s no way God would have a use for you now.
Making something amazing an idol
There’s a good chance an addiction or a divorce are not involved. But you have allowed another area to become the god of your life. Everything was amazing. After graduating, you landed the perfect job right out of the gate. Life was happening and you were playing a great part.
Work was perfect. You didn’t simply have a job. You were launching your career. God put someone amazing in your life and the two of you began to build your family. Somewhere down the line, that career took over. The office became your church. As children were added to the picture, the amount in your bank account became more and more significant.
It all started with you simply wanting a little more sleep. You began hitting the snooze button instead of waking up and spending time praying or reading a Bible. Sundays started to be about watching the game with guys from the office instead of worshiping God with your family.
Life by no means is bad or difficult. In fact, those closest to you see a picture from the outside of your family looking in and see exactly what they think they want. That being said, they don’t realize how dark the inside of your heart has become. Everything is always about more. A bigger house. A car that is just a little faster.
The clothes your children wear mean more to you than the amount of time they spend praying at night. Who has time to worry about where they are going to spend eternity? You’re too busy making sure they have good enough grades to get into the right school.
Everything hits you all at once. You’re able to realize there is no peace in your life. If you could simply slow down and spend time experiencing the presence of God, you know everything could be far better than the mess the world around you sees. But you’re stuck. You have created so much separation between yourself and God; you don’t see any way of pointing your children, or yourself down a different path.
Looking for something different
There’s a good chance I haven’t even scratched the surface of where you are at right now. As I mentioned earlier, I spend a ton of time talking to men who more than anything want God to be a part of their life again. They simply don’t know where to start. They allowed something good that was put in their life to become more important than it was created to be.
I know several people that have allowed addiction to overwhelm them. They think they have sunk so low that God’s no longer available to them. More men than I can count have told me that because of a divorce or failed marriage, they’ve disappointed God so much that He is no longer interested. Yes, you made some mistakes and you’re sorry, but you don’t know how or even if you can go about making things right.
Also, I meet a lot of guys who quickly agree they have put something great in God’s place in their life. They put their career, spouse, or child on a pedestal. Somewhere along the line, they take God out of the equation and replace Him with a blessing He has put in their life. Surely God is going to always remember this and use it against them.
Reach out to us
Maybe you’ve heard it before and simply need to be told again. You can not outrun or out sin the grace of God. You are never so far gone that His love will not reach you. Regardless of what you have done, when Jesus died on the cross, it counted for you.
If you are sending this article to someone else or if you’re someone it’s bent sent to, please contact us. Let us know how we can be praying. Sometimes, a person who has spent a season or two in life running from God simply needs to know there’s someone out there who cares. We want to be those people. More than that, spend some time praying. Don’t worry about the words to use or what to say. Simply tell Jesus that you’re drowning and you need Him to reach out and save you.
If you’d like help finding a body of believers close to you and a church to call home, we’ll help. I have no problem doing some research on your area. I’ll a church that would love for you to be there this weekend, regardless of what your past looks like. Don’t try to do this on your own. Yes, you need to spend some time with Jesus by yourself. But, you need to surround yourself with other Christian men. Find a group of people who love you enough to point you towards the cross. We want to be a part of that group.
Jeffrey has a degree in theology from Aidan University and is the founder of Gospel Grammar in Ft. Wayne, Indiana. His goal is to inspire others to seek a more intimate relationship with Jesus Christ.
