Next Exit - Jesus

26 April 2026  Acts 2:14, 36-41

The Fourth Sunday of Easter

“‘Brothers, what shall we do?’ And Peter said to them, ‘Repent and be baptized, every one of you….” Acts 2:37-38

Many, if not all, Christians become believers because of some kind of crisis – there is some suffering, or tension, or decision that demands attention, and one vector of resolution is religion.

Crises often arise during times of cultural disturbance – a community, a political party, or a whole nation reaches a point where a big decision has to be made, and like approaching an exit on a highway, not to decide is to decide. Not to decide is a decision to remain on the road you’re on, and go where it goes.

“Brothers, what shall we do?” the people asked Peter on the day of Pentecost. “Repent and be baptized, every one of you,” Peter said (Acts 2:37-38). About three thousand did (Acts 2:41). They understood that windows of opportunity don’t stay open forever, and not to decide to take the off ramp is to decide.

Windows of opportunity don’t stay open forever, and staying on the road you’ve been on only goes to the places you’ve been. In the 19th century, off ramps to deal with the contentious problem of slavery appeared repeatedly – the Missouri Compromise of 1820, the Nat Turner Rebellion of 1831, passing the Gag Rule in 1836, the Mexican War of 1846-48.

Each of these was an opportunity to recognize that slavery had to go, and there was still time to do it in an orderly fashion, like the British had done. They ended slavery without hardly firing a shot. But the U.S. resolutely drove past every off ramp until fighting was the only option, and the Civil War killed about 700,000 Americans, leaving painful scars that exist to this day. Windows of opportunity don’t stay open forever.

Various crises exist in America today. The political class seems determined to find ways not to talk to each other, to stay in their silos and simply loathe all the other silos. Gender ideology has already passed the bounds of reason, and the radical takeover of certain cultural commanding heights (like education, entertainment, and media) has made people afraid to have the conversations that could restore rationality. Young people have become brittle and depressed in numbers never seen before (see Jonathan Haidt, The Anxious Generation). All this and more has made growing numbers of people suspect that the off ramp marked “Jesus” just might be a solution. The trendy atheism of the early 2000s has already conceded that they have nothing helpful to say about the crisis of meaning and purpose afflicting millions of young adults – even Richard Dawkins is calling himself a “Cultural Christian.” All over America people are joining the Catholic Church in numbers that haven’t been seen in years – 38% increase nationwide in new members joining the Church at Easter this year, in places like Los Angeles over 100% increase, all of it led astonishingly by 20-something young men. Bible sales rose 22% in 2024, 12% on top of that in 2025, 20-25% increase so far in 2026, 41% of new Bible readers are young men.

“Brothers, what shall we do?” the people asked Peter on the day of Pentecost. “Repent and be baptized, every one of you,” Peter said (Acts 2:37-38). About three thousand did (Acts 2:41). They understood that windows of opportunity don’t stay open forever, and not to decide to take the off ramp is to decide.

Brothers, what shall we do?

The signs are all over: “Jesus – Next Exit.”

Take it.