As you can probably guess from the title of this blog, my goal is to present the Gospel in a way that is incisive and relevant. This is something Jesus was able to do. He could cut right to the heart of the matter and present himself as the solution to people's real needs. I pray for this gift all the time.
How can I make Jesus relevant to a generation that perceives faith as exactly the opposite? What are they looking for? Because it is possible to live a mostly satisfied and comfortable life without salvation in Christ, for the most part there is no perception of the need for a saviour.
Over the years/decades/centuries, there have been various strains of evangelical tactics in an effort to make the Gospel appealing. Some attract people to Jesus by preaching that he will provide for them, others do so by touting that he will solve their life issues and problems...still others use fear and threats. At points in my evangelical evolution I've been guilty of resorting to one or more of these. This isn't to say that God won't/can't do these things, but if we're luring people to Jesus based on what they want to hear at the moment or based on external needs that we perceive, we are painting a very different picture of salvation than what Jesus himself painted. Needs are very shaky ground to build relationships on, because not only can those relationships crumble when the need is gone, but our temporal needs are not the ones Jesus put the greatest emphasis on.
My prayer is that God would show me how to connect who he really is with what people really need, whatever their circumstance may be. I also pray that he would be opening the eyes and hearts of those who need him, to acknowledge that their need is to be reconciled to God their creator and accept him and the sacrifice for their sins.
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