The Church is the Gospel
I find that God really pushes me to think harder whenever I speak at an event. Maybe it’s that I am just nervous and because of the extra prayer God helps me to see a little more clearly. But here is a new epiphany I feel is important to share.
What is the message in God’s Word?
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only son, that whosoever believes in him would not perish, but have ever lasting life.” -John 3:16
It is a message of God’s life-giving love for everyone through Jesus.
In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the Word was God…. And the word became flesh and dwelt among us. -John 1:1, 14a
So, when we deliver God’s word to anyone, we are delivering Jesus himself.
“Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.” -1 Corinthians 12:27
We, as the church, are the body of Christ, the way we live, the way we love, the way we are as a group, is an extension of that same Word that was in the beginning with God, made flesh. We are the continuation of the same message. Jesus, the Holy Spirit, the Word AND The Church are the means by which God chooses to communicate his love to the world. We, church, are the medium of the gospel.
No matter what app, platform, website or new technology to be invented we want to use for the gospel and ministry, we must not forget that it is ourselves, and our LOVE, made possible by God’s love in us, that is the message we must communicate. So share yourself to communicate the Gospel.
An example I learned on this trip. It was 4:00am. Daniyar picked me up from the airport. I said, “I’m sorry it is so early for you! You had to get up so early and drive so long.” He said, “I am happy to pick you up, you are my brother, you are family. I love you.” I don’t know about you, but that definitely qualifies as self-sacrificial love; early morning driving two hours for a perfect stranger. That communicated the Gospel to me more clearly than a 500 sermons I have forgotten.
I think we have a model of the church that is music, announcements, preaching, tithe, more music, mingle awkwardly for 10 minutes, go home forget about it, repeat every Sunday. For best results, attend a small group where we get to know each other better. To me that is not church. The Church, the Gospel, is Daniyar joyfully picking me up at 4:00am. I almost cried, it was so unexpected and shocking. Which, I imagine, is how Jesus made people feel when he spent time with the outcasts of society. The response I expected was the polite lie we all say, “It’s no problem, happy to help.”
I told the story about Daniyar from the stage, and later had other people come and invite me to their countries saying, “Let me know when you come, brother, I will come pick you up from the airport at 4:00 in the morning too!” I mean, I might not even pick up my own mother at 4:00am! Just get an Uber! Okay, well, the other week, I did do an airport run for my mother at 4:00am, but for a friend or co-worker? Maybe not. For a perfect stranger? No way. What about for your worst enemy, someone who betrayed you, who hates you, and wronged you. For sure, no! But that’s exactly the kind of love Jesus calls us to and models for us, and that we as the Church are to use in ministry.
I would implore us to reconsider what ministry looks like, especially in restricted countries, like many of the pastors and evangelists at the event represented. Jesus’ ministry looked much more like loving people in crazy unexpected ways. It is all to easy to get tied up in the desire to be businesslike about ministering, and needing to see results and conversions and gospel presentations, but it all comes back down to love. Last I checked, there were no laws against loving people.
What does this mean online?
I am responsible for innovation at OneHope, so how does this connect to technology? The first and foremost is that, no matter what platform we are using, we will never escape the need for relationship and love that we are uniquely tasked and equipped for as the Church to convey the gospel. Medium matters. Whether we are using Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter or a chatbot, it doesn’t change that the Church is God’s chosen medium for the gospel. So the digital mediums we use all have strengths and weaknesses, but we have to keep a firm grasp on our radical love and the power that it holds. No matter what platform you use, remember that you are sharing yourself and seeking to show that love. Gen Z, or anyone really, can have thousands of relationships with people all over the world, but still feel entirely alone and unknown because those relationships are so shallow.
Pursue depth. Pursue to really know and be known. It is hard and that is why it is also unpopular. But Jesus spent years with his disciples, inviting them to follow and watch as he loved people in a way the defied reason, defied expectation, defied culture, defied laws, defied religion, and loved them regardless of their past, their problems, their failures, their diseases. That is what taught the disciples how to do the same.
Do not get caught in the trap of trying to be a perfect christian. Identify with the struggles of others. Be honest. The only foundation for a true relationship is 100% honesty. If they do not know the real you and you do not know the real them, then there is always doubt and fear that overshadows everything. They could think, “They are nice to me, but that’s just because I haven’t told them about ______.” Whatever fills in that blank, on both sides, it has to come out, otherwise there is no real relationship, because both sides are lying to each other.
It is so easy to be someone else online, to show that you have the perfect life when everything is really falling apart. Leverage technology, yes. But be genuine, build relationship, and love with the same urgency and power as you want to give them a bible, preach them a sermon, or save their soul. As much as we want to go straight to the Bible and tell them about Jesus, you can reveal Christ to them without words.
“God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. By this love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because in this world we are like Jesus.” -1 John 4:17–18
If you change your tactic for sharing Jesus from, “how can I work a gospel presentation into this conversation?” to, “How can I love this person so hard they weep tears of joy?” I think that would be a Jesus approved ministry tactic.
