The Big Squeeze

I don't buy the notion that there are no dumb questions. I fully believe that people ask dumb questions. I have asked you dumb questions and I have been victimized by yours as well. It is part of getting to know people, it is a part of speech really. I say this because I am about to ask you a series of questions that could easily be interpreted, or misinterpreted, as dumb. Indulge me; I hope these questions prove purposeful.

• What do you get when you squeeze an orange?
• What do you get when you squeeze a bottle of ketchup?
• What do you get when you squeeze a tube of toothpaste?

Obviously we all know the answer to those questions. If there is any doubt in your mind I would suggest avoiding tryouts for Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader? The expectation is that when squeezed, you would get out of each vessel what is actually inside. So, when you squeeze a container of ketchup you get ketchup, when pressure is applied to a tube of toothpaste you get toothpaste.

If we extrapolate this out into the absurd, we could even formulate principles that govern our expectations for the squeeze.

1. When squeezed something is going to come out.
2. What comes out is what is inside.
3. What is inside is what has been intentionally placed there.

Silly but true.

Now, with all of that in mind, let me ask you an important question: What do you get when you squeeze a Christian?

Following the principles of the squeeze, the answer should be Christ. When a Christian is squeezed by the pressures of life the result should be that a likeness of Christ comes out. Do you agree?

Believe it or not, Jesus had something to say about all of this. In his Sermon on the Mount he addressed this concept.

You can identify them by their fruit, that is, by the way they act. Can you pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? A good tree produces good fruit, and a bad tree produces bad fruit. A good tree can't produce bad fruit, and a bad tree can't produce good fruit. So every tree that does not produce good fruit is chopped down and thrown into the fire. Yes, just as you can identify a tree by its fruit, so you can identify people by their actions. Matthew 7:16-20 NLT

Jesus was pointing out was that there are a plethora of people who say they are good and godly; they run with the right people and go to the right churches and have all of the right answers. But all of that stuff doesn't matter because it's surface stuff and can be controlled. To really know what a person is like, you have to wait until they are wedged in the vice of life, when they experience the Big Squeeze. It is during the pressures of life that you can know who a person is and whose they are.

Let me ask a more important question: What do we get when life squeezes you?