What’s holding us back?

My 5-year-old son recently asked me if everyone goes to heaven, to which I told him heaven is for those who love Jesus.

“Why wouldn’t someone love Jesus?” he asked me. I told him some people have never heard about Jesus.

With innocent eyes, he replied, “Really?”

We talked about telling people about Jesus and I pretended to be one of the kids in preschool class. I asked him questions and he proceeded to give me the gospel from a 5-year-old’s perspective.

Couple things really touched my heart, on top of the just the shear beauty of hearing him talk about Jesus dying for our sins on the cross. My 5-year-old son communicated the gospel to me and did it without fear of looking dumb, hurting his reputation of being labeled an outcast. He also showed enthusiasm in wanting his friends to know about Jesus.

So what’s holding us back? This is why Jesus rebuked the disciples for trying to forbid the little children from seeing him and also why he says our faith needs to be like a child’s faith – believing in something we call cute when a child does it and then turning to our adult peers and calling them stupid for believing in such nonsense.

We need to wake up.

I recently attended a Newsboys concert in Huntington and one of the opening bands, Anthem Lights, has a song called “Can’t Shut Up” about not being able to shut up about the beautiful gospel of Jesus Christ.

“We’ve got to break the silence; we’ve been quiet for too long,” is one of the verses. And they are absolutely right.

Why is it we stand up and defend America, but we shy away when our faith is attacked?

Why will invite our friends for a drink Saturday night but not to church Sunday morning?

We need to have a response like my son, who couldn’t believe that someone might not have heard that Jesus died on the cross for our sins and forgives us and makes a way to heaven for all eternity.

We need to have that childlike faith and desire to want the people in our lives to know this truth and not be ashamed to tell them how Jesus has changed our lives.