I was talking with a friend the other day about how hard it was to know the best way to share the Gospel, when it seems like there are so many “right” ways to go about. Personally, I was struggling with keeping it simple, while also wanting people to know what they were giving their lives to.
We were told the basics of the Gospel during Training Camp (Remember the simulation where we got to practice sharing it?) and I practiced reciting them until I was sure I could share without forgetting any important details.
1 God created us for a perfect relationship with Him.
2 We sinned (which is anything you think, say, or do that goes against God’s laws) and ruined that relationship, and since the punishment for sin is death, we could no longer spend eternity with our Heavenly Father.
3 God loved us too much to leave us in our sin, so He sent His son, Jesus, to earth as a human, to be the perfect example and pay the price in our place.
4 Jesus lived a perfect life, died on the cross for our sins, and rose again, defeating death and giving us a way to spend eternity with Him!
5 And now we have a choice. Do we cling to our sin and be a god of our own making, or do we surrender it all to God and live as we were made to?
Then we walk people through the prayer to receive salvation (God, I know that I’m a sinner and deserve death, but I believe that You made a way for me to enter into relationship with you. I believe that Jesus is Lord and that You raised Him from the dead!)
Here’s where I always struggled. What now? Do I tell people all about how they should constantly be striving to be one with Christ now, or do I stress how it’s only by grace they are saved and that they could never earn this? Do I make it clear that we are called to take up our cross daily, or do I point them to the Bible and let them discover it themselves? How do I share the hard aspects of Christianity without confusing a new believer?
As I was talking with this friend, I was hit with a realization. The Gospel means Good News, right? Good is an adjective that changes what it’s referring to based off of the preference of whomever is using it. Now, this doesn’t mean you can change the fundamentals to match what you think of as “good”, but if the Gospel is for everyone, it means it’s for everyone, no matter how different they may be.
This is why it’s so important to be in tune with the Holy Spirit when you’re sharing the Gospel! You need to be listening for what to share with each, individual person! One person may need to be convicted of the sin they’re living in, another needs to know that they are loved no matter what they’ve done. One needs to know they are saved by grace, and another needs to be reminded to keep working to know Christ deeper.
The truth never changes, but God made this news for everyone! Why wouldn’t you share it?
