When the scribes of the Pharisees saw that He was eating with the sinners and tax collectors, they said to His disciples, “Why is He eating and drinking with tax collectors and sinners? Hearing this, Jesus said to them, “It is not those who are healthy who need a physician, but those who are sick. I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners. (Mark 2:16-17, NASB)
While waiting for our departure from three fabulous days of golf at Royal County Down, a bus driver named Chris reminded me of these verses. He conversed with Dennis Darville about his faith and knowledge of the Bible.
As I listened in from the window, Dennis shared about Links from the bus door. When Dennis left the door, I headed in to learn more about Chris, who, after hearing my name was the same as his, said, “ Do you know what your name means?” Before I could respond, he said, “Christ Bearer.”
That same morning, after waking up and looking out at the Irish Sea, the tide had receded almost out of sight. It dawned on me that there is an incredible power to the tide and that God is always moving to accomplish his purposes. In the book by Glen Scrivener, The Air We Breathe, he references the power of the tide and the metaphor of God’s underlying power. “Tides do not go out forever. The power of the water is evident. No matter what its current level is, the terrain at low tide has been shaped by the ocean as surely as the beach at high tide. Just like the tide, Christianity is still powerfully at work.”
The 19th-century poet Mathew Arnold once said this was a “long withdrawing roar of the ‘Sea of Faith’ leaving us with neither joy, nor love, nor light.” In 1851, 50% of the population of England was in church; it is 6% today, and Biblical foundations are publicly condemned.”
Chris, the Christ-bearing bus driver, admitted that he knows a lot and has to start doing something. He has read the Bible from beginning to end three times, but he is concerned about being publicly vocal. We began talking about his journey and the spiritual condition of the country and its culture.
There are people who do not know the Lord or the healing that Christ brings to every situation. The only way to change our culture is to step out in faith and change the tide.
In those two verses in Mark, Jesus explains where we should invest our time, treasure, and talents. He was developing a relationship with those who needed healing the most. God’s way to reach us was to send Jesus here. Empty religious rituals have been used as our way to reach God and haven’t worked to change the spiritual tide.
As a Links Player, how can you change the spiritual tide? Are you simply being religious or seeking to introduce men and women into a relationship with Jesus?
Prayer: Lord, I lift up Chris, the “Christ-bearing bus driver,” to you. Give him the faith to be bold, take what he has learned through the Holy Spirit, and move a nation closer to you. Help him and all of our friends in ministry hear you through the Spirit, listen, and go in faith.