The Value of the Gospel

by Adam Kronberger / Superintendent

It seemed like the worst day of my life. I felt like I was going to throw up. I was certain I had lost my cell phone! I could not find it anywhere. I thought I had left it behind at the gym. After checking with the front desk, nobody had seen it. I’m sure somebody had stolen it. I was already counting up the cost of replacing it. Stress and worry were growing exponentially as I considered how I would suffer without my phone over the next few days. How did this happen? How could I be so careless with my phone?  

I drove home utterly defeated. I felt like I was going to cry. My wife instantly sensed something was wrong and I confessed my crisis to her. As I thought back through the last few hours, there was one more possible place to look. After working out, I had spent five minutes walking through a furniture store. It had been such a quick stop, but I distinctly remember sitting down in one particular chair. Had my phone fallen out of my pocket? We sped down to the store, with my family waiting patiently and prayerfully in the parking lot. I walked into the store and asked the clerk if they had seen a black phone. They had it! I marched out of the store with my phone held high in the air for my family to see (and everyone else in the parking lot) like I had just won an Olympic medal.

For hours after that experience, I had an elevated heart beat and a permanent smile on my face. I felt like I had won the lottery. Others who have seemingly lost something valuable only to find it later can understand the emotional roller coaster. In fact, Jesus himself understands this dynamic all too well. To help us understand,he used parables about coins, sheep, and even a prodigal son (Luke 15) to communicate the highest cause for celebration. When a lost soul returns to their Creator with a heart of repentance and surrender, the entire heavens break out in joyful elation.

Each year, God continues to lead the school closer toward His vision and mission for Crosshill Christian, which is discipleship training. More and more students are being trained and encouraged as they choose to share the gospel to the lost in Salem and around the world. As believers, it is a common trap to get caught up with the comforts and ambitions of the American dream, and forget to ask, “What on earth are we doing for heaven’s sake?” Just as I had become careless with my cell phone and forgot its value in my life, I too can become careless with my faith forgetting the value of the gospel in my own life. When we choose to put ourselves in situations where the gospel is shared, we are not only reminded of the transformative power in the lives of others, but in our own lives as well!​     
 
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– Adam Kronberger / Superintendent