Try to imagine how difficult it
would be to preach the gospel of Christ (His death, burial and resurrection - 1
Corinthians 15:1-8) in a culture that did not know (or care to know) the
concept of the One, True God. We live in
a society that was (supposedly) based on Christian principles and
attitudes. The first century Roman
Empire knew nothing of the kind. It was
polytheistic (many gods) and was a terribly hard region to pass on this message
of salvation (1 Corinthians 1:18-25).
From what Paul says about his mission, the gospel message was nothing
short of a scandal in his day. It was
considered the invention of a sick mind (see Acts 26:24). What’s worse, even Paul’s own countrymen (and
many of his fellow Christians) thought he was mad.
The word “gospel” means “good
news.” And what we have come to know and
understand about Jesus’ atonement, His sacrifice on our behalf was truly good
news. But don’t make the mistake of
thinking that good news to you is going to be considered good news to everyone
else. Actually very few view the gospel
of Christ as good news. Especially if it
means giving up their personal pursuits, or their leisure time, or their TV
shows, or their favorite music, or their hard-earned money, or their friends in
order to benefit from the gospel. That
is definitely NOT good news. Worst of
all, the gospel is not good news even among Christians when they’re confronted
by the fact that holiness is to be a Monday through Saturday thing; not just
what they’re willing to surrender during “quiet time” on Sunday mornings.
No, we have the same difficulty
preaching the gospel of Christ today as Paul and the other Apostles did in the
first century. It’s even possible that
we have it harder than they did. So many
distractions, distortions, misinterpretations, obsessions, etc. have come and
gone through the years between us that it can seem downright impossible to
present the truth in a way in which others will listen and live accordingly. But we, like Paul, must acknowledge that we
have no other story to tell. No other
message deals with sin, and therefore, no other message can provide salvation
(see Romans 1:16-17; Acts 4:10-12). So
we are going to have to trust God to bring us success with a “strange” message;
one that only makes sense when it is lived out daily by those who preach and
teach it.
Is your gospel one that helps save
others from sin; or is it a “watered-down” version that appeals to modern
cultural thinking? Is your strange
message proved relevant and useful by your attitudes and actions; or do others
view it as being nothing more than another philosophy on life?
Grow daily in your relationship with
God so that you can proclaim that you are not ashamed of His gospel which is
the only message powerful enough to save and reconcile sinners with God (Romans
1:16). Live it out in such a way that it
will be known undoubtedly as good news by those who see and hear you.
Doug
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