Alarm?

A few nights ago, Leigh-Anne and I were woken up by our fire alarm. That alone would be a bit unnerving to anyone, but for us especially since the house beside us burned down in October 2007. (See “There’s A Fire. Get Out!” on my Facebook page for more info)

I was a little disoriented when I woke up. At first I thought it was my alarm clock. Then I noticed all the lights on and Leigh-Anne scurrying around. Both kids slept through the whole ordeal. Leigh-Anne went around the house looking around to see what was causing the alarm to go off. She told me later that once she verified that there was no fire in the house, she collapsed in the living room. As it turns out, the fan near Logan’s room had a motor that burned out, and began to smoke. No danger. THE KIDS SLEPT THROUGH IT ALL!

Immediately, once I realized that we were safe, I had an idea to write about. My kids slept through the whole thing. It was loud. It was glaring. It signalled danger. They didn’t know it was something they should respond to.

Maybe you’ve seen those news stories about how the noise from a fire alarm doesn’t register in a child’s mind. They are beginning to make smoke alarms that parent’s are able to record their own voice as the alarm. I have seen the kids have a huge difference in the way they respond.

Now what was my point? I got this idea that my children sleeping through this potential danger was like the way young people are being raised today. There are people telling them about some guy called Jesus. People wonder why some swearword would have any effect on them? Many people today don’t think that there is a standard for right and wrong in our culture. Young people hear mixed messages. They don’t know who Jesus is anymore, or they only get some view of Jesus that is skewed by someone that is angry at Christianity. Young people may hear the words, but they don’t tend (unless they actively try to learn about Jesus) to have a good understanding of Jesus.

We, as followers of Jesus, need to take some time in sharing our faith to really explain why we believe. We can’t just sound the alarm and know that people will wake up from sleeping as the fire burns. They have have to understand that there is an alarm before the fire consumes them.

In the Bible, in the book of Acts, there are two situations. At the beginning of the book, Jesus’ disciples were speaking about Jesus in a culture that had all the foundation of Jewish culture. People had seen the miracles of Jesus. It was fairly easy for people to follow the way of Christ.

But as the book continues, time has passed. We see the Apostle Paul preaching to people that had not been a part of what went on in Jesus' time. They had not seen or heard about the miracles. They were from a different culture. That is were we are now. More and more people don't have Christian roots in their family. We have to teach them, not from, "For God so loved the world", but from, "In the beginning".

People need to know yes, that there is an alarm, and also what the alarm is telling them. Be ready to take the time to sit and answer people's questions. Study the Bible for yourself, so you can be ready when the opportunity comes.