Psalm 40:10

"I have not hidden your deliverance within my heart; I have spoken of your faithfulness and your salvation; I have not concealed your steadfast love and your faithfulness from the great congregation."

There are four lepers on the outskirts of a town under siege that is collectively starving to death. They stumble on the abandoned camp of their enemy and begin to gorge themselves on food that was left behind in haste. After filling their faces, they are seized with guilt and say to one another, "We are not doing right. This day is a day of good news. If we are silent and wait until the morning light, punishment will overtake us. Now therefore come; let us go and tell the king's household" (2 Kings 7:9).

How do we "hide God's deliverance within our hearts"? We do it whenever we have an opening in conversation, and we hold back because we think of reasons why it is not the right time. We do it when we are more "culturally sensitive" than Holy Spirit-sensitive. We do it when we go for the cheap laugh. Like Paul Simon sang, "There are 50 ways to leave your lover."

Jesus was not "culturally sensitive" in that respect. If he was "sensitive," it was to the coming of the darkness and the misery of men plunging headlong into a joyless eternity. If we only knew how desperate people are, and how fast they would jump at even a fumbling presentation of the truth! My first Christian roommate, a Jewish hippy loitering on the Boston Commons, was won to Christ when a Christian walked up to her on the street and said, "Want to meet some normal people?" God is like a Rumpelstiltskin who can weave your straw comments into gold, soul-saving gospel.

No wonder Paul was not hindered by "cultural sensitivity" when he told the gospel all over the Mediterranean. He had witnessed its potency over and over. There is nothing like seeing how well the gospel works one time to make it easier the next time. And so he spoke truly when he said, "I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes" (Romans 1:16).

Why are we remiss about telling people about Jesus? Horrible as it may seem, we of the saved cop an "I've got mine!" attitude. It's the attitude new sophomores have toward new freshmen once they've made it past the first year and are no longer quivering wretches. "In the thought of one who is at ease there is contempt for misfortune" (Job 12:5). What is misfortune but not knowing Jesus or being saved? What is contempt but lazy withholding of a hand up out of hell?

There was a white-collar man who came back to his office on a Monday after getting saved over the weekend. He bubbled over with the news to one of his colleagues at the water cooler. The other man said, "Good. Now we can study the Bible together." "What! You mean you're a Christian?" asked the new convert. "Yup," said the older Christian proudly. "But you were my biggest stumbling block. I watched you day after day, and you were so 'together' that for a long time I thought, 'See, a person doesn't need Jesus to live a moral life.'"

Jesus spoke up at the "water cooler" in Samaria when He struck up a conversation with a five-time divorcee. He wants us now to make the most of our own water coolers.

To read Andrée Seu's series on Psalm 40, click here.

To hear commentaries by Andrée Seu, click here.