How many of you have ever used a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser? If you have never used one, I highly recommend it. There have been a few just things that I have been unable to clean using one. For those of you who have used it, were you amazed at how well it cleaned ordinary items? I’ve used it to remove scuff marks on the wall or floor. I’ve cleaned bathtubs and my oven with it. It has no odor. You simply add water to it and it truly works like magic.
Now, suppose you and I were having a conversation and you told me that you had some crayon marks on your wall that your delightful grandchild drew. You were discouraged because nothing you had tried could get rid of it. Wouldn’t you want me to share with you a product I had tried and felt confident that it would erase the crayon marks? If you’re anything like me, you’d be pulling up your Amazon account and adding it to your cart immediately or you’d be stopping by the grocery store on the way home to pick some up. Because we like solutions to our problems.
But what if I mentioned the Mr. Clean Magic Eraser and said, “I don’t know if it will do you any good. I know a lot of people have used it and said it worked pretty well, but I’m not sure it will remove that kind of a mark.” How anxious do you think you would be to go out and buy that product? If the person telling us about something isn’t enthusiastic about it, we are likely to adopt that less-than-enthusiastic opinion of it even if we’ve never tried it.
We live in an advertising-rich environment. There are few things or activities that don’t flood us with ads. Read a magazine – ads. Go to your mailbox – ads. Watch television – ads. Look at social media – ads. Browse the internet – ads. Driving down the road – ads. Listening to the radio – ads. Shopping – ads.
Let me share a shocking statistic. “An average American sees 4,000 – 10,000 ads daily.”[i]
Our exposure to advertising is often driven by artificial intelligence. I’ve recently done some research on plantar fasciitis. Specifically, shoes, insoles, stretching bands, and boards. It probably comes as no surprise to you that whenever I am on my computer or my phone, I am flooded with all sorts of ads pertaining to….take a wild guess. Plantar fasciitis! My electronic devices know I have a problem that needs to be fixed and they are programmed to direct me to solutions for my issue. It happens to all of us. You talk about or read up on replacing your windows or planting fruit trees or the best anti-aging face cream and before you know it, all of these ads pertaining to what you are interested in stop popping up. There are countless companies that want to sell you their products.
How many of you will check the reviews on a product before you purchase? I certainly do. If I have a choice between a product that has 4.5 stars from over 11,000 reviews and a product that has 5 stars from 3 reviews, I’m going to go with the one with the most reviews because more people have tried it and had favorable results. That’s because word-of-mouth advertising is effective and usually more reliable and true.
In fact, “word-of-mouth is even more powerful than paid ads, resulting in five times more sales.”[ii]
Last week, our topic was abiding in Christ so that we bear much fruit. In the scripture, Jesus gave a new command. “Love each other as I have loved you.” (John 15:12)
Some people are easy to love. It’s rewarding to do nice things for nice people. Taking a meal when they’ve had surgery, meeting them for coffee, remembering them on their birthday, or just checking in to see how they’re doing.
But what about the unlovable? It’s not nearly as easy to love the unlovable, is it? We can have all sorts of excuses not to love those we deem unworthy. It’s unappreciated, it’s not reciprocated, it’s undeserved. And the list goes on and on.
Do you find it easier to love a stranger than to show love towards someone you’ve deemed unlovable?
Jesus tells us that we are to love as He loved. Romans 5:8 ESV tells us how He loved. “But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
Even when we were unappreciative, undeserving and not reciprocating His love, He loved us enough to die for us. That’s how we are to love others. We aren’t called to physically die for one another too often. But there is a way that we can show love for anyone, whether lovable or unlovable, known, or unknown.
“The single most loving act we can do is share the good news of Jesus Christ, that God saves sinners.”
matt chandler
Our topic this week is sharing the good news.
Scripture tells us that we are ambassadors for Christ (2 Corinthians 5:20), meaning we are to promote and represent Christ. In other words, we are to be living advertisements for Jesus. Not just in our treatment of others, our morals, and the way we live our lives, but specifically in sharing the gospel.
I’m currently reading a book titled “Gospel Fluency”. The premise is that we know what the gospel is, but we are basically clumsy in sharing it with others. Here is a quote from the foreword. “If you were to ask many Christians what the gospel is, the answers would sing a tune of Christ’s life, death, burial, and resurrection. The accuracy of these answers would leave you to assume that there is application – until you pose a follow-up question, such as, ‘How do you apply the gospel to the everyday stuff of life?’ Then blank stares and fumbling words would reveal the disconnect many Christians have between the gospel and its power not only to save our souls but also to change our lives.”[iii]
Look to those around you. Some may be fluent in medical terms, financial strategies, laws and statutes of limitations, sports lingo, cooking terminology, or even a different language. The fluency would come from not only reading about a topic, but also participating in, learning, and maturing in your knowledge. But how many of us could claim to be fluent in the gospel? “If I am not gospel fluent in my thought life, then I won’t be in my speech. If I am not gospel fluent in my speech, then I won’t be in my evangelism or my discipleship.”[iv]
So, the question becomes “Am I gospel fluent in my thought life?” That’s a personal question that doesn’t need a verbal response.
But here is a question that does require a response. “What exactly is the gospel or the good news?”
The good news is confirmation of a historical event that took place thousands of years ago that changes lives even today. The good news is that before we were born, God loved us enough, individually, to send His only Son, Jesus Christ, to sacrifice Himself to make us right with God. The good news is that God is holy, perfect, and just and He still loves us and wants a relationship with Him. The good news is that God knows we aren’t holy, perfect, and just and He still loves us and wants a relationship with Him. The good news is that it isn’t just about saving us from hell when we die, but it’s also about a connection with Him while we live. It’s about a change in our identity. The good news is what gives us hope and joy in all circumstances.
So why are we so reluctant to share the good news?
It’s sometimes difficult to explain so that someone understands it. We have a hard enough time understanding why the Creator of everything could have known us before we were formed in the womb, know our name, and the number of hairs on our head, know our sinful thoughts, see our sinful deeds, and still love us enough to die for us. It’s also tough to share salvation with someone who doesn’t realize they need saving.
Another reason we may be reluctant is because we don’t know what people will think. Society has us crippled with a fear of offending others so we are hesitant to talk about Jesus, God, the Holy Spirit, Heaven and hell, and all things relating.
We more than likely encounter people with problems and struggles quite frequently. People will often share their difficulties or their situations and what do we do?
We are mighty quick to advise them. “Here’s what you should do.” “I know a guy.” And we’ll refer them to someone or something that will help. We do it with a pure heart, of course. But how often are we offering up the reminder or the invitation of Jesus?
Let me put it in a nutshell. If we don’t suggest Jesus as the answer to every question and Jesus as the solution to every problem, we aren’t doing what we’re supposed to be doing.
Here is another excerpt from Gospel Fluency. “In some cases, we encourage them to read their Bibles or pray, which, of course, are wonderful things. However, if we don’t teach them to meet and know Jesus through their Bible reading and prayer, we are dangerously close to leading them away from Jesus through very good things. This is the heart of idolatry- taking a good thing and making it a ‘god thing.’ We take something God gave us to direct us to Him and love it or depend on it more than Him. As a result, we fail to come to Him through it.”
Here are some pretty sad statistics. 78% of born-again Christians have not shared their faith with non-Christians. In 2022, Lifeway did a study. 47% of unchurched respondents say they would be open to religious conversations. And yet, only 29% of unchurched Americans say a Christian has ever shared with them one-on-one how a person becomes a Christian.[v]
Mark Chandler puts it into perspective for us. “While the good news of the gospel may not appeal to everyone, the bad news of the gospel still applies to everyone.”
Let’s think about this realistically. There are only two categories of people in the world – saved and unsaved.
Within those two categories are different types. Saved people can experience abundant life in Christ by abiding in Him while others aren’t as committed and miss out on all that God has planned for them. Unsaved people can be those who assume they’re saved because they’re good people or they grew up going to church. They may even read a devotional book every single day but they don’t know Jesus. Others are unsaved because they have chosen to not accept Jesus. And a lot of people are unsaved because they don’t know any better. No one has taken the time to love them enough to share the good news.
2 Corinthians 5:17 CEV “17 Anyone who belongs to Christ is a new person. The past is forgotten, and everything is new. 18 God has done it all! He sent Christ to make peace between himself and us, and he has given us the work of making peace between himself and others.
19 What we mean is that God was in Christ, offering peace and forgiveness to the people of this world. And he has given us the work of sharing his message about peace. 20 We were sent to speak for Christ, and God is begging you to listen to our message. We speak for Christ and sincerely ask you to make peace with God. 21 Christ never sinned! But God treated him as a sinner, so Christ could make us acceptable to God.”
Here are some bold statements.
The invitation to follow Jesus is a call to share Jesus.
The Gospel is shared by ordinary believers, not only professional pastors.
God equips every believer to share the Gospel.
The Gospel reconciles us to God.
The Gospel must be shared verbally. It flows through your words.[vi]
These statements are made easier if we are making application of the Gospel to our everyday lives. We need to understand and we need to help others to understand that Jesus isn’t just for a ‘get out of hell free’ card. He’s not just instrumental in death. He’s necessary in life. “Jesus gives a better answer for what they do with their money, their sexuality, their work, or their families. Jesus is good news to them for their afterlife, but they wrongly believe He has little to nothing to offer them in the everyday stuff of life.”[vii]
We would be negligent if we didn’t discuss the basics of the Gospel.
- Problem – the problem is sin. Most people acknowledge that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23)
- Penalty – The Bible says the penalty for sin is death – eternal spiritual separation from God. (Romans 6:23
- Provision – Christ has paid the penalty for our sin by His death on the cross. (Romans 5:8)
- Decision – Each person needs to place their faith in Christ as their Savior and accept that He paid the price for their sin. Repentance and faith are essential in making a decision to follow Christ. (Romans 10:9-10, Ephesians 2:8-10)[viii]
Then they become a new person and are given the task of sharing Christ with others.
As good as the Mr. Clean Magic Eraser is, there is no comparison with how clean Jesus makes us. He’s too good not to share with others!
[i] Advertising Statistics (How Many Ads Do People See Daily?) – Colorlib
[ii] 45+ Word of Mouth Marketing Statistics you Should Know in 2023. (invitereferrals.com)
[iii] Gospel Fluency by Jeff Vanderstelt
[iv] Gospel Fluency by Jeff Vanderstelt
[v] Credit to Andy Cauble and research.lifeway.com
[vi] Credit to Andy Cauble
[vii] Gospel Fluency by Jeff Vanderstelt
[viii] Credit to Andy Cauble
Beacons of Light 