Accenting Gospel Content with Charity
“What I'm about to preach, you will never remember.
What you have just seen, you will never forget.” ~Author unknown
Biblical Christianity maintains that there is content to the Christian message—we call this truth. The truth of the Gospel is that people have willfully rebelled against God and deserve eternal judgment. As such, the God of love, grace and mercy sent the God-Man (Jesus Christ) to suffer and die for our sins in order that we would not have to suffer for our own sin. Jesus miraculously rose from the dead in triumph over death. A person can be saved only through faith in Christ. Conversely, one cannot be saved apart from Christ. No amount of religiosity will cut it. It is upon this truth that the gift of eternal life rests.
At the same time, the New Testament instructs the Christian to accent (in the sense of making prominent) the presentation of the Gospel with the qualities of gentleness and respect. We are to avoid rudeness and arrogance. These words are not internal qualities that a Proclaimer can possess but fail to manifest. They are external in nature and necessary trimmings to Good News of Christ. Failure to express them is to fail as a Proclaimer.
Sadly, I must admit that there have been times when I have dropped the ball in this area. In an impassioned plea for truth I have become frustrated, angered or tactless. Perhaps you too can relate. Incessant attacks upon the content of the Gospel can foster carelessness in our delivery. Yet to truly obey the Christian calling, we must learn to sacrifice neither content nor the accents in our delivery. If I proclaim God’s love in an unloving way or his grace in an ungracious way or his mercy in an unmerciful way, I run the risk of obscuring the content. Sure, God can bypass these foibles and still win souls to Himself, but we must also hold in tension the command to do all things necessary as Proclaimers to win some to Jesus—and that includes an interest in the accents as well as the content of the Good News. We all know that good intentions are one thing, but the way we deliver the message often wins the day!
What you have just seen, you will never forget.” ~Author unknown
Biblical Christianity maintains that there is content to the Christian message—we call this truth. The truth of the Gospel is that people have willfully rebelled against God and deserve eternal judgment. As such, the God of love, grace and mercy sent the God-Man (Jesus Christ) to suffer and die for our sins in order that we would not have to suffer for our own sin. Jesus miraculously rose from the dead in triumph over death. A person can be saved only through faith in Christ. Conversely, one cannot be saved apart from Christ. No amount of religiosity will cut it. It is upon this truth that the gift of eternal life rests.
At the same time, the New Testament instructs the Christian to accent (in the sense of making prominent) the presentation of the Gospel with the qualities of gentleness and respect. We are to avoid rudeness and arrogance. These words are not internal qualities that a Proclaimer can possess but fail to manifest. They are external in nature and necessary trimmings to Good News of Christ. Failure to express them is to fail as a Proclaimer.
Sadly, I must admit that there have been times when I have dropped the ball in this area. In an impassioned plea for truth I have become frustrated, angered or tactless. Perhaps you too can relate. Incessant attacks upon the content of the Gospel can foster carelessness in our delivery. Yet to truly obey the Christian calling, we must learn to sacrifice neither content nor the accents in our delivery. If I proclaim God’s love in an unloving way or his grace in an ungracious way or his mercy in an unmerciful way, I run the risk of obscuring the content. Sure, God can bypass these foibles and still win souls to Himself, but we must also hold in tension the command to do all things necessary as Proclaimers to win some to Jesus—and that includes an interest in the accents as well as the content of the Good News. We all know that good intentions are one thing, but the way we deliver the message often wins the day!
posted by Rev. Dr. Aaron Rock at
1/19/2007 05:00:00 p.m.
1 Comments:
Amen and amen.
12:37 a.m.
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