Just like so many others, I was saddened by the passing of Carrie Fisher last week. “Star Wars” was such an integral part of my childhood (and, if I'm honest, my adulthood) that I couldn't not feel sad that she was now gone. I've always been in the habit of reading about a person's life when they've died. What were they known for? What were their personal lives like? What struggles did they go through? Just like anyone else, Carrie Fisher had been through quite a lot in her 60 years on this earth. As I was reading about her, though, one thing in particular caught and kept my attention.
When asked about her
thoughts on God and spirituality, Fisher
said, “I
love the idea of God, but it's not stylistically in keeping with the
way I function. I would describe myself as an enthusiastic agnostic
who would be happy to be shown that there is a God.” After I read
that, I couldn't stop thinking about it. As a Christian, I often
wonder if these people knew and believed in Christ before they died.
I find myself wishing that I could get the gospel to everyone, but I
know that isn't realistic, and I know not everyone will accept it.
But in reading the quote from Carrie Fisher, I was hit with a hard
reminder: it is
my job to get the gospel message out to as many people as I can.
Lifeway records that although 80 percent of Protestant churchgoers believe sharing the gospel to be an essential part of the believer's life, 61 percent do not evangelize. That's a huge number! As Christians, we should be ashamed. We were once
condemned to death in our sins with nothing we could do about it.
Jesus Christ took the punishment for those sins, even though we
didn't deserve it, and instead offered us everlasting life. To not
reach out with the gospel would be like receiving a complete cure for
what you thought was incurable cancer...and never sharing that cure
with anyone else. In Mark 16:15, Jesus tells his disciples, “Go
into all
the world and
preach the gospel to every
creature”
(emphasis mine). We need not be afraid to approach people, for Jesus
continues to say in Matthew 28:20, “lo, I am with you always, even
to the end of the age.”
Consider the words of Chuck
Swindoll: “God has placed you where He has placed no one else. No
one else in the world has the same relationships you have. No one
will stand in the same grocery store line at exactly the same moment
you do. No one else will come across a hungering diplomat in the
desert at exactly the same time you do. God hasn’t put you in those
places merely to model the truth. Listen for the voice of the Spirit
to whisper in your ear. Watch for the stranger on the road. And be
aware of your opportunities to go where He would send you.” I urge
you to share the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ with anyone
and everyone you can. There is absolutely nothing more important than
that. Believe it or not, there are people out there that are waiting
for the gospel. Perhaps Carrie Fisher was one of them, perhaps she
wasn't—don't let anyone leave this world bound for hell without at
least telling them Jesus is the way to heaven.
All Bible
verses are taken from the New King James Version.
