The Everyday Club

3/6/12     Eddie,     52
Luke and I met after work in order to go out to share the gospel. We met a man on the sidewalk named Eddie, a neighborhood mechanic, who has been through a 12-step program for drug addiction. He proudly described how he has changed from his former selfish life as an addict to his new life of doing good for others and believing in God. We encouraged him to keep on doing good and making improvements in his life, but we also knew he was making the all-too-common mistake of believing he is now heaven-bound based on his good behavior. Like Apollos who only preached the baptism of John - a baptism of repentance (Acts 18:25) - the 12-step program seems to have brought Eddie to repentance but not to belief in Christ. The faith he does have is faith in his own goodness rather than in the work of Jesus on the cross. How do we tell someone like Eddie the bad news about the eternal consequences of his sin without discouraging him from the positive path he is on? We challenged him to see that there is yet another step for him to take, a 13th step that involves a faith commitment to Jesus. Eddie said he attends the church service at the Salvation Army center where he went for his recovery program, and I trust they are Christ-centered in their teaching. Let's pray Eddie will hear it.