Four Things We Should Know

There are four things we should know about every person on earth. No matter how successful or unsuccessful they are, how famous or obscure they are, or how attractive or unattractive they may be, everyone shares these four traits.

One, there is an essential emptiness in every person who hasn’t yet come to Christ. Everyone is essentially empty. No matter how much money or prestige someone has, he or she has to deal with that emptiness. Scripture says that God made His creation subject to vanity, or emptiness, meaning there is a void, a hole if you will, inside every man, woman, and child.

Two, people are lonely. We can assume there is a sense of loneliness in every individual. Albert Einstein once wrote, "It is strange to be known so universally and yet to be so lonely." People are lonely. We need to know that.

Three, people have a sense of guilt. They may try to mask it with alcohol or have a psychologist or psychiatrist tell them it is not there. But they have to deal with their guilt over the things they have done wrong. The head of a mental institution in London said, "I could release half of my patients if I could find a way to relieve them of their sense of guilt."
Four, people are afraid to die. Some may strut around and say, "Not me. I’m not afraid to die." But they are.

So don’t be so intimidated by the facades that people hide behind and assume they don’t want to hear what you have to say about your faith in Christ. Remember, you used to be one of those people. I used to be one of those people. We responded to the gospel. And so will they.