Faith: The Fountain Versus the Fire Hose

Our faith. Many of us are afraid to preach it to others nowadays for fear of being ridiculed or being labeled as overzealous, religious nuts. Those who are not afraid to proclaim our love for God risk making another misstep. If we deliver the message of Jesus wrongly, we can reinforce misconceptions of what Christians are (judgmental, holier-than-thou, etc.) and turn unsaved people away from receiving God's love, merely for delivering a good message in a less-than-good way.

Jesus is the living water of life. Whoever drinks of it shall not perish. There are 2 ways to send this message to others. The fountain and the fire hose. One preaches "about" with gushing pride. The other preaches "at", and can seem brutal and unforgiving to the recipient in its relentlessness.

The fountain - a water fountain springs up from the earth. People look at it and want to come closer. They feel peaceful from the sound of the water, the message flowing from it. They are hypnotized by the rippling water at its base, reflected by the sun. We may even throw a nickel in and make a wish, believing that there is some higher power within the fountain that can give us what we desire, what we truly seek in order to become fulfilled. Water fountains don't turn on you; rather, they proclaim a message. You don't feel bad when the water from a fountain hits you; rather, it refreshes you and you want more water. It invites but does not impose. It is proud and secure, and tells you to come forward, and let me deliver to you this good message.

The firehose - the fire hose is focused and powerful, and carries with it the same message as the fountain. But when directed at someone, it hurts them and pushes them back. A fire hose is so forceful in its delivery that it can harm people who don't know about it. They get the wrong impression of the good that the water in a fire hose can do because of its aggressiveness. True, a fire hose can extinguish a bad fire and save lives ... as such, it's good to have a fire hose around when the heat gets turned up. But fire hoses have also beat back people who were peacefully marching their own way, instead of setting them on the right path. It drives them away from the very things it was meant to attract those people to ... the truth about God, the love of Jesus and the movement of the Spirit.

At this point, you may be saying "fountains are soft. We're fighting the enemy here and we need to have conviction. We need to send a strong message." You can have conviction in the form of a fountain. Try this ... put the power of a fire hose into a fountain. Proclaim "about" instead of preaching "at". The result looks like the Old Faithful geyser. And people come from all over the world to look in wonder at Old Faithful and see the glory she proclaims. They want to see what she's got. Since Old Faithful is strong in her delivery, people look up. Put a bad fire near Old Faithful, and it soon goes out. Hurling rocks and insults at Old Faithful are laughably ineffective at getting it to stop. Old Faithful is proud and keeps going when the rain hits. It's a strong fountain.

Stand near a fountain, spread your arms, raise your hands, close your eyes, and accept what the fountain gives.