Gospel

Gospel

The LORD has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to comfort the brokenhearted and to proclaim that captives will be released and prisoners will be freed.

RUBBING MY FOREHEAD, I stifled a sigh. Though I tried to hide my dismay, my reaction must have given me away. Tim glanced over at me. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” I said. “I just had to snooze someone on social media. She’s so nice in person and her kids are adorable, but I can’t handle the negative articles she keeps posting. It’s influencing the way that I see her as a person, and I hate feeling that way.”

His expression turned a little sheepish. “I’ve hidden a lot of people lately too.”

The older I get, the more I realize how powerful our words are—even, and perhaps especially, the ones that we don’t say face-to-face. I have to admit that I’m sometimes discouraged at the way people choose to wield their words. All too often on social media, the posts are incendiary or the words divisive. Part of me can’t help but wonder: Is this what you want to be known for?

Instead of getting pulled into the news of the day, let’s choose to share the best news of all—the gospel of Jesus. According to Easton’s Bible Dictionary, gospel is a rendering of the Greek evangelion, “good message.” This good message includes “the gospel of the grace of God” (Acts 20:24), “the gospel of the kingdom” (Matthew 4:23), “the gospel of Christ” (Romans 1:16), “the gospel of peace” (Ephesians 6:15), “the glorious gospel,” “the everlasting gospel,” and “the gospel of salvation” (Ephesians 1:13). What a wonderful list describing the gospel: grace, peace, everlasting, glorious, salvation—truly Good News! One of my favorite Scriptures, Isaiah 61:1 reminds us that we are anointed with a wonderful task: we have good news of great joy for all people. What a radical perspective. What a lifelong mission.

Let’s be people who refuse to give up our long-term influence with someone just to prove a point. Perspectives shift and people change, but we have the opportunity to reflect and demonstrate with loving words the sovereign, saving grace of our Jesus. Let’s choose to speak the gospel, sharing the Good News of Jesus with all we encounter.

Lord, thank you for the gospel and our opportunity to partner with you in sharing the Good News. Amen.

-Kristin

One Good Step: If you have social media, scan through previous posts on your page. Are your words and actions speaking the Good News of Jesus? Why or why not?