The Gospel
is not about me.
.
Today's BSF seminar gave a whole new meaning to this seemingly cliched sounding statement.
Well...
One of the points made during the seminar was that most of the time when sharing the Gospel we tend to talk about our own salvation experience.
Well... that's most relevant to us and to those around me, perhaps.
But then again I was prompted to think about the number of times I actually shared the Gospel, per se.
*Scratches head*
Well... many a times I tend to forget about God and his message being on a cosmic scale, and my testimony, while pointing to the Gospel, is not the Gospel itself.
Never.
Well, too often I get trapped in the insecurity, not regarding my salvation of course, but concerning the possibility of my preaching tainting the reputation of the Gospel (if you know what kind of a person I sometimes can be).
Then again, the Christian faith was not meant to be entirely about its followers. You take a look at Christians around you who are just as *^@~ and just as *&%^#@ as everyone else and that's about the impression you get about our faith.
But the greatness of the Christian faith was never contributed to by its followers. We're nothing near that.
The Gospel, and only the Gospel itself, speaks of the salvation God offers.
True, I was changed by the Gospel (I was a total &%^$#% before I converted) and I have lots to say about Jesus' words and deeds. But rather than talking about what it does, I also dare not forget to tell about what it is.
Whatever I did this morning or a year ago couldn't change the Gospel. When Christ died on the cross he died on the cross. When he bore our punishment he did bear our punishment. When God said salvation is available to whoever believes and confesses he meant exactly that.
Not a life of comfort (well, at least, not necessarily), but reconcilation with God. Freedom from guilt. Freedom from how bad you know you are (God's love for you isn't hinged on that).
