I belong to a church in Japan called Crossroad Bible Fellowship. It’s an appropriate name in more ways than one.
We’re located near a station that’s literally a junction point between several different cities. But as part of the church at large, we’re also called to be a crossroad to the community around us.
When people walk into our church, they should be forced to a point of decision, a crossroad as it were. To follow Christ or to not.
And that’s what Jeremiah was trying to force the people of Judah to do. Make a decision. Either follow God or not. He said,
This is what the Lord says: “Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls.” (Jeremiah 6:16)
Basically God’s saying here, “You’re at a point of decision. You can go one way or the other. Ask for the ancient paths that people like Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and the other people of faith followed. That’s the good way. If you walk in it, you’ll find peace.”
But the problem is found in the very next sentence.
But you said, ‘We will not walk in it.’ (16b)
Stubbornness. Hardness of heart.
However you want to put it, that’s how the people of Judah were. Though God sent people like Jeremiah to warn them and admonish them, the people responded,
‘We will not listen.’ (17)
Jeremiah said of the people,
To whom can I speak and give warning? Who will listen to me?
Their ears are closed so they cannot hear. The word of the Lord is offensive to them; they find no pleasure in it. (10)
The result? Judgment.
It was very interesting yesterday as I posted this blog on Facebook.
I printed this quote from yesterday: “Everyone loves to hear about God’s love and mercy. No one likes to hear about God’s judgment.”
A few people “liked” the quote. But I wonder if they really understood what I was saying. It occurred to me this morning that it could be taken two ways.
When I wrote it, it was to make people realize that the love and mercy of God were only one side to the gospel. But there is another side to it as well: judgment.
I wonder if some people took it in the wrong way. That we should be preaching God’s love and mercy and completely leave behind the message of God’s judgment.
That’s what the priests and false prophets were doing.
They dress the wound of my people as though it were not serious. ‘Peace, peace’ they say, when there is no peace. (14)
There was a missionary named Jim Elliot who wrote something that I’ve never forgotten. He prayed,
Let me not be a milepost on a single road; make me a fork, that men must turn one way or another on facing Christ in me.
How about you? Are you simply a milepost on a single road? Or are you a fork? A crossroad?
I’m not saying we should bash a person on the head with the gospel and force them to make a decision right then and there (although a quick decision would be ideal).
But if a person is with us long enough, they should come to a point of decision. And if they’re not, then we’re probably not doing the job God has called us to do.
Are you? Some people, like the people of Judah, may reject the message we bring. But others will hear and be saved. And that’s what really matters.
May we all be a crossroad to the people around us, not just pointing the way to Christ, but also forcing people to a point of decision.
Moment to Moment (Bible blog) 