The venerable phrase, “Live and let live” is a familiar one.  It should be, having been around for about four hundred years [originally a Dutch proverb, it’s first appearance in English dates from around 1622].  The idea seems to have been, ‘live as you see fit and allow others to do the same.’  Expressed as a negative, it would be, ‘Don’t interfere with others, lest they interfere with you’ or ‘Leave others alone, so they’ll leave YOU alone.‘  It is not the Cold War’s strategic doctrine of mutually assured destruction (MAD), but rather, mutually assured tolerance.

The credo is logical, if selfish: I desire to live life my way, on my terms.  If you feel similarly about your life, let us form a social compact of mutual and maximal indifference: ‘I shall keep out of your business, if you keep out of mine.’

This philosophy, crude as it may be, has in many instances helped to maintain some necessary space, preserve a measure of independence, ease unnecessary friction and reduce tensions.  It is widely assumed to have had a salubrious impact on keeping the peace between individuals and the tribes to which each belongs.

But such a peace is flawed and uneasy.  It is flawed because it still depends on reciprocal trust, which is fragile at best and highly vulnerable to misunderstandings (given the fact that the parties going their separate ways by agreement, are not doing much communicating).  It is uneasy because no questions are asked about either party’s morality—or lack thereof—before committing to ‘live and let live.’ Afterward, moral inquiries are even less welcome and are therefore less likely.  Should one party to the compact grievously injure innocent people, the other is bound by its terms to look the other way, doubling the moral harm done.

“But aren’t we delving much too deeply?” you ask.  After all, no policy is perfect, with no risks, and no downside potential.  Live and let live is simple and sincere.  It’s tolerant.  It’s inclusive.  It’s non-controversial and non-confrontational.  It’s easygoing.  “Why,” you say, “I doubt that even Jesus Christ would have a problem with it.”

You could make that guess, but you’d be wrong.  Jesus does have a problem with ‘live and let live’—a couple of problems, in fact.  According to His disciples Matthew and Luke, Jesus said the following about ‘live and let live’:

“He that is not with me is against me; and he that gathereth not with me scattereth” (Matthew 12:30, Luke 11:23)

Let’s take the second declaration first, namely, that if you are not joining Jesus in gathering lost souls into the kingdom of God, you are actually being counter-productive, perhaps even working at cross purposes to His own.  The word “abroad” which appears at the end of the verse in Matthew’s Gospel, adds a bit of perspective.  It is not just that if you are not helping Jesus gather His sheep, you are actually scattering them. The word “abroad” implies a consequence. Rather than being gathered into one place, the sheep are scattered all over the place, hindering and delaying their entrance to the safety of the sheepfold, and in the process, wasting precious time, effort and resources.

The other declaration, the flat statement that if you are not with Jesus, you are against Jesus, makes plain that there is no half-faith in Him, and no possible neutrality toward Him.   We must choose.  Not choosing Him, not coming over to His side, can mean but one thing: you have chosen to remain in the other camp—the rebels’ camp, the camp of His enemies.  There is no third option.

But these observations do not exhaust the meaning of Jesus’ short sentence quoted by both Matthew and Luke.  The main point is that Jesus is not neutral, either.  During His earthly life He was “a man on a mission”—a mission to offer Himself as a sacrifice to die in our place for our sins.  Jesus is still in the saving business, and according to the Bible, has an absolute, unapologetic monopoly on it: “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).

God His Father had begotten but one Son, so, no rivals, no close competitors.  “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).  God did this because He was unwilling to let anyone perish, desiring instead that all should come to repentance and live (II Peter 3:9).

Jesus stands alone.  He alone can save.  He alone was sinless and He alone was worthy to pay our ransom.  He alone suffered, died, was buried and raised to life again on the third day, according to the Scriptures.    He alone purchased a pardon for sinners with His own precious blood.

Jesus created you.  He loves you more, far more, than you could ever imagine.  He went to extreme lengths to redeem you and set you free.  He alone endured the shame and agony of the cross for you.  He alone gave you His own righteousness.  He wants to bless you for all ages to come, not to damn you for all eternity.  But He has done one more thing…He has left that choice up to you.

Will you join Him today, and be joyously welcomed?  Will you come to Him and declare yourself to be unabashedly, unreservedly FOR Him, not against Him?  Will you consent to quit scattering and finally start helping Him gather, in these last days? Will you repent of your sins and ask God to fill you with love and compassion for the lost? Will you pray for a sense of urgency to reach them with the good news of salvation to be found in Christ alone?  Will you ask Him for a stubborn unwillingness to allow them to ‘live and let live’ their way to hell?  If so, the next moves are yours.  Read on.

HOW TO BE SAVED:

• Admit to God that you are a sinner (that you have not kept His moral law to perfection; in your thoughts, words and actions you have done what His law forbids and have failed to do what His love demands).  This is seeing yourself from God’s point of view and agreeing that He is right about you. Be as specific as you can.
• Believe in your heart that Jesus died for your sins and that God raised Him from the dead.
• Sincerely repent (turn away) from your sins, asking God to forgive you and to use His power to help you resist temptation, no matter how strong the pull of sin may be, at first.
• Acknowledge Jesus as the Lord of your life.  Invite Him to move into your heart and take up residence there, so that He can change you from the inside out.
• Trust His promise to save you and give you a new spiritual birth and a new nature (thoughts, desires, priorities, hopes, dreams and character).

SOME KEY TRUTHS:

• “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.”  (Romans 3:23)
• “As it is written, there is none righteous, no, not one.”  (Romans 3:10)
• “For the wages of sin is death: but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”  (Romans 6:23)
• “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”  (John 3:16)
• “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”  (Romans 5:8)
• “For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures.”  (I Corinthians 15:3,4)
• “But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name.” (John 1:12)
• “Behold, I stand at the door and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him…”  (Revelation 3:20)
• “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”  (Romans 10:13)
• “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.”  (Romans 10:9)
• “Verily, verily, I say unto you; He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life; and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.”  (John 5:24)
• “But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing, ye might have life through his name.”  (John 20:31) 
• “These things I have written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.”  (I John 5:13)