We have to share. -Anna Grace Gay
"So you had mercy not only on him but also on us. We would have felt tortured by unbearable pain if, in thinking of our friend's outstanding humanity to us, we could not have numbered him among your flock." -book 9, chapter 5
Augustine shares how his friend Verecundus has not yet become a christian. In my opinion I believe Verecundus was honestly struggling with whether he wanted to make this decision or not. Augustine even says, "Verecundus was torn by anxiety at the happiness which had come to us because he was firmly tied by the chains of his obligations and saw himself losing our society." He saw the difference in Augustine's life from then to now. I don't know if Augustine shared openly on any occasion about his conversion specifically but it is obvious just by the new found joy in his life that Verecundus saw some sort of change and God was using that to soften his heart. We see later that Verecundus did indeed accept Christ before he died and Augustine was grateful for that. He was grateful that his friend was shown mercy by God and was saved and was now spending eternity in heaven but he was also grateful that God showed mercy on him. Augustine realized the amount of guilt and sadness he would have felt if his friend had died not knowing Christ because that would have meant Verecundus would have been spending eternity in hell separated from Jesus forever. And that sentence got me thinking. I feel like this is something we don't relate to enough. There is a video called "letter from hell", it is about 7 minutes long and I highly recommend you go watch it. It is a fictitious story but the point they are trying to make is very real. Josh was killed in a car crash and he was not a christian, but he had a very close friend named Zach who was a christian. Josh wrote a letter from hell saying that he knew Zach was a christian, he told him so, it came up all the time. Near the end Josh says something that gets me every time, "Why haven't you ever told me how to be a christian, Why didn't you ever tell me about Jesus?" Augustine's comment reminded me about this video and it all lead me to this thought: Just living out our christian walk isn't enough. Sure, people are gonna see Jesus in our lives just by how we live and that is so important. But we can not end there. It can't even end with telling someone, "yes, I am a christian". We have to share the gospel. We have to tell people how to get saved and what that looks like for them. I love how Augustine puts it, "we would have felt tortured by unbearable pain." Think about one person you know right now that is not a christian. Maybe that person knows you are a christian, you may have even told them you are. But have you shared the gospel? Have you told them what Jesus did for them and how to become a christian? What if that person died and then wrote you a letter from hell saying, "why didn't you ever tell me how to be a christian, why didn't you ever tell me abut Jesus?" Like Augustine so perfectly puts it, think about the unbearable pain you would feel. I know this reminder makes me want t0 move to action. Don't let people who are unbelievers stay that way and then wonder why you never shared. Share with them how to become a christian so they can get saved and you can see them in heaven one day and they can thank you for sharing that truth. I am reminded daily that I have to share the gospel while living it out and I always think back to what my youth pastor told us, "How much do you have to hate someone to not share the gospel?". We have to share. "Don't feel guilty about not sharing. Feel convicted to share."
P.S. Commented on Eliza and AnnaKate's posts.
Augustine shares how his friend Verecundus has not yet become a christian. In my opinion I believe Verecundus was honestly struggling with whether he wanted to make this decision or not. Augustine even says, "Verecundus was torn by anxiety at the happiness which had come to us because he was firmly tied by the chains of his obligations and saw himself losing our society." He saw the difference in Augustine's life from then to now. I don't know if Augustine shared openly on any occasion about his conversion specifically but it is obvious just by the new found joy in his life that Verecundus saw some sort of change and God was using that to soften his heart. We see later that Verecundus did indeed accept Christ before he died and Augustine was grateful for that. He was grateful that his friend was shown mercy by God and was saved and was now spending eternity in heaven but he was also grateful that God showed mercy on him. Augustine realized the amount of guilt and sadness he would have felt if his friend had died not knowing Christ because that would have meant Verecundus would have been spending eternity in hell separated from Jesus forever. And that sentence got me thinking. I feel like this is something we don't relate to enough. There is a video called "letter from hell", it is about 7 minutes long and I highly recommend you go watch it. It is a fictitious story but the point they are trying to make is very real. Josh was killed in a car crash and he was not a christian, but he had a very close friend named Zach who was a christian. Josh wrote a letter from hell saying that he knew Zach was a christian, he told him so, it came up all the time. Near the end Josh says something that gets me every time, "Why haven't you ever told me how to be a christian, Why didn't you ever tell me about Jesus?" Augustine's comment reminded me about this video and it all lead me to this thought: Just living out our christian walk isn't enough. Sure, people are gonna see Jesus in our lives just by how we live and that is so important. But we can not end there. It can't even end with telling someone, "yes, I am a christian". We have to share the gospel. We have to tell people how to get saved and what that looks like for them. I love how Augustine puts it, "we would have felt tortured by unbearable pain." Think about one person you know right now that is not a christian. Maybe that person knows you are a christian, you may have even told them you are. But have you shared the gospel? Have you told them what Jesus did for them and how to become a christian? What if that person died and then wrote you a letter from hell saying, "why didn't you ever tell me how to be a christian, why didn't you ever tell me abut Jesus?" Like Augustine so perfectly puts it, think about the unbearable pain you would feel. I know this reminder makes me want t0 move to action. Don't let people who are unbelievers stay that way and then wonder why you never shared. Share with them how to become a christian so they can get saved and you can see them in heaven one day and they can thank you for sharing that truth. I am reminded daily that I have to share the gospel while living it out and I always think back to what my youth pastor told us, "How much do you have to hate someone to not share the gospel?". We have to share. "Don't feel guilty about not sharing. Feel convicted to share."
P.S. Commented on Eliza and AnnaKate's posts.
Yes and amen, Anna Grace! I loved the urgency Augustine felt about his friends coming to know Christ and was challenged by both his words and your own! This reminds me of Jeremiah 20:9 (ESV), "If I say, “I will not mention him, or speak any more in his name,” there is in my heart as it were a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I am weary with holding it in, and I cannot." When we are "in tune" with the Holy Spirit, we will be burdened to share the Gospel and the hope we have in Christ with everyone around us.
ReplyDeleteI think a lot of us can relate to Verecundus in this. I know before I was saved that I noticed something different about a lot of people in my life as they began their journeys of salvation. I also love Augustine's love for Verecundus and how elated he is about his salvation. It is a true testament to friendship and the Lord's faithfulness.
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