I have already made plans to go to Honduras this fall for one year. I made a promise to God two and a half years ago that I would give a period of time immediately after graduation to go and share the gospel overseas. If you're doing the math, there's a gap from May to Fall-ish where my schedule will suddenly free up drastically. I am currently applying/searching for jobs or internships to hold me over until I leave for Honduras, but God may have other plans for that.
Anyway, as graduation approaches, I have been attending quite a few industry presentations given by hiring companies. It's a strange dynamic, really. At the presentation, a company will pull out all the stops to try and pitch their company to a room full of hopeful students. They send their best presenters, their flashiest powerpoints, and the company credit card. That time of presentation is like listening to a used car salesman. "This company is different because..." or "Something you find with this company that you won't find anywhere else is..." or "This is the best company I've ever worked for..." They try their hardest to convince us that their company is worth working for. Flash forward to interview time and suddenly, the tables have turned...literally. Two men sit on one side of a rectangular table as I sit on the other side facing them. Now, it's my turn to sell. I wear a suit, a tie, shiny shoes. I try to sell my resume, my accomplishments, and my worthiness to men who, just the night before, were trying to sell me on the very thing I'm competing for.
As I sat through one of these presentations last week and began to make the connections of this odd situation, my mind decided to park itself on the gospel. I realized that the gospel, specifically how it should be presented, has absolutely no connection to these presentations or interviews. The gospel does not need to be sold. It does not need to be advertised on a brochure. It cannot be made to look any more appealing that it already is. No pamphlet will make it seem sexier. No powerpoint will do it justice.
The gospel does not need to be sold. It can only be accepted as is.
God has given me the opportunity a couple of times over the last few weeks to share the gospel with a friend whose salvation I have been praying for for almost two years. It is so tempting to make the gospel sound appealing. To try to sell the gospel so that he'll accept it. To make it sound so sweet, that he would have to be a fool to reject it. But the fact of the matter is, the gospel is not appealing...its offensive. The gospel is, and should be, offensive to those whose hearts have not been gripped by God. Offensive maybe, but essential still. Not a word in Matthew 10 hints at the gospel demanding anything less than everything. Yet it's still so tempting to try to sell "Admit, believe, confess and you're good." (Side note: I hate "Admit, Believe, and Confess". I think it should be more appropriately titled "Believe and Die". I think that sums it up much better. Believe that Christ paid the ultimate bounty for your salvation, and therefore Die to all the world so that you can make Christ and his fame known. Something tells me the church isn't going to adopt "Believe and Die." That won't fill seats.)
Anything less than the true gospel is no gospel at all, it is a man-made story designed to make ourselves feel better about our religious standing. So, next time you present the gospel, remember that you're not trying to sell it to anybody. That's God's job. The gospel must be presented in its true form: We are dead, incapable of raising ourselves to life. But God allowed his son to be murdered so that He could raise us to life. And therefore we owe him everything. Our own agendas become irrelevant and His purpose becomes paramount.
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