But What Do I Say?

'And Jesus came and said to them, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age."' (Matthew 28:18-20)

'And He said to them, "Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned."' (Mark 16:15-16)

'"Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in His name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem."' (Luke 24:46-47)

'Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in the book; but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in His name.' (John 20:30-31)

What exactly is the Gospel? It's a question that I've asked in various ways over the years. I read where Philip shared the Gospel with the Ethiopian eunuch, and think, but what did he actually say? Or when Jesus met the two disciples on the road to Emmaus: 'And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, He interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself.' (Luke 24:27)

I'm sure most Christians know the literal meaning of the word Gospel is 'the Good News'. But if you're anything like me, you think of Jesus' birth, death and resurrection as the Gospel, and our need to turn from our own ways (repentance) and accept His death and resurrection as the payment for our sin so we 'get to go to heaven' when we die. If that is all it is, though it's much more than we deserve, why would we need more than the Gospels and the book of Acts in the New Testament? Those five books tell us what happened and how the church was born and developed after Jesus went back to the Father. But salvation from sin is just the start of the Good News.

The four books we call 'The Gospels' are four accounts of Jesus' time here on earth, while He was 'the Word made flesh'. Two are written by disciples who personally walked with Jesus for the three and a half years of His earthly ministry: Matthew and John. Mark, I've heard, could be the young man he refers to in his own book, who flees the scene of Jesus's betrayal. (Mark 14:51-52) From the Book of Acts, we learn that Mark sometimes accompanied Paul and Peter on their apostolic missions. Some authorities say that he could have been one of the seventy disciples that Jesus sent out during His ministry. Luke's Gospel explains that he had 'followed all things closely for some time past', and wanted to 'write an orderly account' (Luke 1:3).

Each of the four Gospels describes what's known as The Great Commission slightly differently. John doesn't even phrase it as a command, he simply reiterates why he wrote his account: 'That you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God..' To him, it appears to have seemed unnecessary to say what to do with that belief. If you believe that Jesus is the Christ, you want to tell others. Matthew and Mark quote Jesus directly, each emphasizing what impacted them. "teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you..."/"Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved": Matthew wants us to remember to teach Jesus' commands whereas Mark wants us to remember the result of believing or not believing. Luke, being a professional man - we are told in Scripture he was a doctor - records more of the details of what was known before and why it's important. 'Thus it is written...that repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed'.

Ok, so we've read the four gospel accounts, reminded ourselves of what He 'commanded' and then we're to go and teach it to others. We love Jesus, but so often the inbuilt 'fear of man' holds us back. This is why it's vital to be a disciple yourself first to build a strong foundation. Think of it like this: you meet someone new, say, another mum, who regularly goes for their walk at the same time as you. You start to walk together and gradually get to know each other. At some point, you introduce them to another friend. You don't usually introduce one to the other when you've only just met. Jesus, as well as being our Lord and Saviour, said we are His friend.

'"No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you."' (John 15:15) In this passage, He tells us that the Gospel is all that He made known to us. What did Jesus make known? This is where we realize that being a disciple and making disciples is more of a cycle than a straight line: To be able to keep sharing Jesus with others, we need to keep ourselves in the Word, fellowshipping with Him and the Father.

'"And this is eternal life, that they know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom You have sent."' (John 17:3)

This Scripture shows us that eternal life isn't just about 'living forever': it is knowing our Father and our Saviour. How do you get to know someone? By spending time with them. It's the same with God. His Word is what He left us, along with His Holy Spirit. This sheds a different light on why you read your Bible. It's not to tick some to-do list box, or because you think you have to so God will love you and look after you. When you spend time in the Bible, you get to know its author.

So the answer to the title of this post is that we say what we've heard in the Word of God that is relevant and appropriate to the conversation. It can be as simple as starting with 'God loves you' or as deep as walking with someone through the Old and New Testaments, showing them all the promises God gave that were fulfilled in Jesus.

This is a shorter post than I thought it would be, but that feels like the right place to stop for now. Thanks for reading, and I'll see you in my next post.