Do You Speak Greek?

I love listening to mockingbirds! They perfectly mimic the songs of every bird in their area – a kaleidoscope of melodies.

Every chirp and warble is unique. The blue jay doesn’t have a clue what the robin’s saying. The dove’s song is like Greek to the sparrow.

Made me wonder: is our “Christianese” a bunch of gibberish to nonbelievers?

Are we speaking Greek?

When I wrote my Bible study, Storms of Life, I wanted to put the plan of salvation in the first chapter.

So, I wrote this:

Each of us has sinned and rebelled against God’s laws. But, because of God’s great love, He sent his only Son to be crucified and buried, to pay the penalty for our sins. After three days, He was raised from the dead and promises eternal life to all who believe in Him.
If you confess your sins and accept Jesus as your Savior, He will forgive you and give you eternal life.

I followed this with a nice “if you believe in Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection, pray the simple prayer written below and receive His gifts of forgiveness and eternal life.

Sounded great to me.

Source: Deposit Photo, william57

Thankfully, a close friend said, “I wasn’t raised in church and I assure you that a nonbeliever won’t understand a thing you’re saying!”

So, I tried again:

Do you have any idea how much God loves you? I know, you’ve messed up a lot, we all have. We’re all guilty of sin; we all face the death penalty. But God loves you so much that He set in motion a plan to save you from death.

He sent His Son, Jesus, to earth to live a normal life – just like you. But Jesus didn’t sin – He lived a perfect life. Even though He was sinless, Jesus agreed to die – to die in your place. After He died and was buried, God used His great power to raise Jesus to life again. Jesus returned to Heaven and lives eternally with His Father.

If you believe that Jesus died for you and ask Him to forgive you, He will erase all your sin – forever! If you believe that He was brought back to life, He will give you eternal life. When your life ends on this world, you will join Him in Heaven.

How’s that? Is that better?

Remember: At one time we too were foolish… Titus 3:3a

Keep your words simple, so that the “foolish” may believe.

When did you believe in Jesus?

If you haven’t asked Jesus to forgive you and to give you eternal life, I pray that you will do it now. Then tell a friend who goes to church and ask them to take you with them.