Written by Pastor Jack Wellman– Kirk Cameron
A Stumbling Stone
If you walked up to someone and told them that you have a cure for their sickness, they’d probably call the police. But the truth is, we have the cure for sin, and it’s called repentance and faith. For some, Jesus is a stumbling block of offense, but to those who are being saved, it’s the fragrance of life. The Apostle Peter wrote that “honor is for you who believe, but for those who do not believe, ‘The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone’ and ‘A stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense.’ They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do” (1 Peter 2:7-8). You’re not responsible for them receiving the cure, but you are responsible for telling them they need it (Matthew 28:19-20).
Sweetness and Stench
When we share the Gospel, it is a message of hope and deliverance from the wrath of God. People will respond differently to it, as Paul wrote that the Gospel is “to one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life. Who is sufficient for these things” (2 Corinthians 2:16)? They will not really reject you but reject the Rock, so “the stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone” (Psalm 118:22). Many trip over Jesus, but those who are saved stand on this Rock, for all other ground is sinking sand.
Test Results
If you went into the doctor and he gave you a prescription without telling you what was wrong, you’d probably not fill that prescription as it wouldn’t make any sense to you because you feel fine. But cancer can be spreading throughout your body, and you may not even know it. In time it will show up, but we who are saved have the double-quick cure for sin, which is trusting in Christ. We must first show them that the wrath of God is real (John 3:36b) before God’s grace and mercy is relevant.
Sharing the Cure
Imagine you have a cure for cancer but you keep it to yourself. Wouldn’t that be close to criminal negligence? Yes, it would. But that’s just what we do when we fail to tell people that their sins have severed their relationship with God (Isaiah 59:2), that God’s wrath is on them, and that they must repent and believe (Mark 1:15). By keeping this sin-cure to ourselves, we are withholding the only message of hope that the world has. Why would we do that?
Conclusion
We do have the only cure to the cancer of sin, and we must be willing to step out of our comfort zone to tell others about it. If we don’t, we are committing a sin of omission. It shows we only care for ourselves and don’t want to risk rejection or embarrassment, even though people’s eternal souls are at stake. Remember, the power’s in the message and not the messenger, but the messenger must be unleashed so that the power of the Gospel, which is the very power of God (Romans 1:16), can be sent forth. Why would we ever keep it to ourselves?
