Dear Friend,
The late pastor and author Tim Keller writes: "We are more sinful and flawed in ourselves than we ever dared to believe, yet at the same time we are more loved and accepted in Jesus Christ than we ever dared hope."
Sharing the gospel with people who fail to accept their flawed and sinful nature is often a challenge. Such people feel little need for a Savior because they perceive themselves to be basically good. They are managing their lives just fine on their own, and they have no need for any outside help.
Such people find it hard
to be open, honest, and vulnerable because for them such admission is a
sign of weakness, and acknowledging weakness or admitting need is unacceptable.
For them the gospel is bad
news because it reminds them of who they really are-flawed and floundering
sinners in need of a Savior.
To witness to them often
makes them angry and puts them on the defensive. "Who are you to suggest I
might need someone or something to change my life?".
Too often I have made the mistake
of pressuring persons like this to make a decision when the soil of their heart
was still hard and they were not yet ready to receive the Savior, and in doing
so I only made it harder for the next person who would witness to them.
In such cases, we
need to be sensitive to the leading of the Holy Spirit and step back and trust
that the seed of faith will be planted by someone else at some distant time and
place.
We must remember the words
of Paul who writes, "The Lord has assigned to each his task. I planted a
seed, Apollos watered it, But God made it grow. So neither he who plants nor he
who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. The man who plants
and the man who waters have one purpose, and each will be rewarded according to
his own labor, for we are God's fellow workers; You are God's field." 1
Corinthians. 3. 2-9.
Below is a message by Jim
Denison reminding us that the gospel is bad news before it ever becomes
good news. I hope it will be a helpful reminder to each of us as we share the
gospel with others.
“The Gospel is Bad News Before it is Good News by Dr. Jim
Denison
Our problem with love is its source:
“The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick” (Jeremiah
17:9). Jesus described our “heart condition” this way: “from within, out of the
heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery,
coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness”
(Mark 7:21–22).
As a result, we need a spiritual heart
transplant. We need the “new heart” only God can give us (Ezekiel 36:26) when
we are “born again” as his children through faith in his Son (John 1:12; 3:3).
Frederick Buechner said of this reality:
The
gospel is bad news before it is good news. It is the news that man is a sinner,
to use the old word, that he is evil in the imagination of his heart, that when
he looks in the mirror all in a lather what he sees is at least eight parts
chicken, phony, slob. That is the tragedy. But it is also the news that he is
loved anyway, cherished, forgiven, bleeding to be sure, but also bled for. That
is the comedy.
According
to Tim Keller, “The gospel is this: we are more sinful and flawed in ourselves
than we ever dared believe, yet at the same time we are more loved and accepted
in Jesus Christ than we ever dared hope.”
Here’s the catch: We must experience the
risen Lord Jesus personally to experience the transformation he can make in our
lives. He alone can forgive our sins, save our souls, transform our character,
and manifest himself in and through us.
“Love wins” when it is his love.
God’s word assures us: “The Lᴏʀᴅ your God is living among you. He is a
mighty savior. He will take delight in you with gladness. With his love, he
will calm all your fears. He will rejoice over you with joyful songs”
(Zephaniah 3:17 NLT). Commenting on this promise, First15, our devotional ministry, quotes Brennan Manning:
“My deepest awareness of myself is that
I am deeply loved by Jesus Christ and I have done nothing to earn it or deserve
it.”
Will you make his “awareness” yours today?”
Quote for the day:
“We should be
astonished at the goodness of God, stunned that he should bother to call us by
name, our mouths wide open at his love, bewildered that at this very moment we
are standing on holy ground.” —Brennan Manning
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