How clear is your gospel presentation?
Here's a great post on the importance of clearly presenting the gospel:
"The great Apostle Paul asked the believers of Colosse to pray for his gospel presentation to be as clear as possible. Wow.
If Paul needed prayer for to ensure a clear proclamation of the good news, how much more do we? This is the same brilliant and determined disciple who baffled the Jews after his conversion with his inarguable arguments for the grace of God. This is the same one-of-a-kind writer who penned the salvific books of Romans and Galatians, the Constitution and Declaration of Independence of the Christian faith. Yet, in spite of all his qualifications to preach the gospel, he asks for prayer to be clear as he presents this simple, yet astounding message." MORE -->>
The “ageless” gospel
With so much pressure to be new and innovative in ministry, let's not forget that the message of the gospel is not new or an innovation. In fact it's ageless. Romans 1:1, 2 says the gospel was promised beforehand. OK, can we get some clarity on "beforehand"? Sure. Titus 1:2 says the gospel was promised before the ages, and 2 Timothy 1:9 says the gospel existed before the ages began. What Paul is saying in Romans is that the gospel is ageless.
So what does this mean?
• It means salvation originates and begins with God. That is, the gospel is not man-made.
• It means the gospel is eternal. Created, finite beings cannot devise a plan for eternal salvation. (Although mankind has always tried to make his own plan for salvation apart from Jesus.)
• It means the gospel it beyond space and time; it transcends it. In other words, the gospel is relevant to any culture in any age. We don't have to make the gospel relevant.
I think the last point is important. The gospel doesn't need to be made cool, hip, or relevant. It doesn't need to be dressed up and packaged. The gospel cannot be bent to fit the culture, nor should it "emerge" into something "better".
The gospel is the same yesterday, today, and forever - it's ageless. Let's preach the gospel for it's God's power for salvation. Let's trust the gospel and not innovation to save.
Gospel-driven ministry
Some good thoughts on ministry/church practices...
Gospel 101 from Sojourn Community Church on Vimeo.
Center of the Gospel
Re-reading A.W. Tozer's Man: The Dwelling Place of God. I appreciated his thoughts on how Christ is often presented as a "a cure to ills, a way out of troubles, a quick and easy means to the achievement of personal ends." The problem with this is selfish gain becomes the center of the gospel.
If Jesus is all about making our lives better, then why just Christianity? There are lots of other belief systems, faith practices, gurus, and techniques that can improve our lives.
The gospel is not about what we get, it's about what Christ has done. Jesus is the center of the gospel not us.
All Christ-followers are commanded to share the gospel, but let's be careful that we don't present the gospel as a benefits package, or a new and improved product. We are not salespeople, we are messengers.
Bad to Good
I love how God takes a bad thing and uses it for good.
This morning I was reminded of this when reading in Judges 6 the Lord's instruction to Gideon to use the wood from the Asherah pole he just cut down to burn an offering to the Lord. The pole, used to worship the goddess Asherah, was converted to offer the Lord worship and bring him glory.
This should remind us of the Lord's saving and redemptive work in our lives. On a large scale, God took our lives broken by sin (a bad thing) and saved and redeemed us through Christ in order to honor and worship him (a good thing).
But even in our day-to-day lives we should be conscious of the redemptive potential in every situation. Pastor Matt Chandler says we should look for shadows of the Gospel in our daily lives.
Here's a question: If the Lord is in the business of taking bad and using it for good, then what's my part?
Maybe it's praying for a situation, or offering forgiveness, or showing kindness, or taking a risk on someone or something, or obeying that prompting from God, or spending more time with family, etc.
Whatever it is let's participate in God's work of taking bad and using it for good.
"You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives." (Genesis 50:20) Joseph to his brothers after they sold him into Egyptian slavery.
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