I’ve thought alot lately about how the Church can be most effective in reaching the lost with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I was challenged recently by a speaker who shared this analogy. He said that it’s like comparing Pure bottled Water to a bottle of Coke! When you drink water you know it is perfectely good for you and hydrates you and is actually healthy. I could afford to drink more water according to my wife, who is a nurse! We all could. The speaker said that if you pour water on yourself, it actually cleanses you and feels good–it’s all good! Coke, on the other hand, is actually mostly water, with “other things” added to it–corn syrup and coloring and flavoring, etc. When you drink it(which I love to do), it tastes good and all, but is not really the best for us–could ultimately affect our digestive system negatively if we drink too much. If we pour it on ourselves, it just makes us all sticky and dirtier than before! The speaker then said, “Jesus is like Pure Water and Religion and even ‘Christianity’ is like Coke!” He went on to say that Jesus, in and of Himself, is True, Living, Pure Water–He nourishes and quenches our spiritual thirst; He cleanses us and is the Best Thing for us! We need Him! We need More of Him! Often, we add to Jesus our own “brand” of Christianity or our “Religion” and it really pollutes the Gospel or “colors” the True, Pure Thing–JESUS! What missionaries find is that the unreached are really drawn to JESUS but turned off to “Christianity” or “Religion” because of the “extras” that get added to it! I say, “Lets give the World the ‘Real Thing’- not the “Coke” of Christianity or Religion, but JESUS! Let’s just Give them JESUS–He’s the Real Thing; the Pure Thing!” That is who they need and that is who can Save Them and Cleanse Them and Nourish Them with Eternal Life! (John 4:13-14) JUST GIVE THEM JESUS!
