Go From ‘I Think I Will’ To ‘I Will’ Share The Gospel

Word-Of-The-Day:  ‘(4) For everything God created is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, (5) because it is consecrated by the word of God and prayer. (6) If you point these things out to the brothers and sisters, you will be a good minister of Christ Jesus, nourished on the truths of the faith and of the good teaching that you have followed.’ (1 Timothy 4:4-6)

Doing ‘I will…’ instead of ‘I think I will…’ allows us to do what Jesus commanded us to do, and that is tell the Good News, the Gospel, of Christ to all so that they are given the opportunity to change.  Why would we not want to share the Word of the Lord with others if it is good for them?  It is also good for us to share as we demonstrate our love of Jesus through the actions or works of sharing the Gospel.  We need to be determined that we will act in accordance to what our Lord wants us to do, and not necessarily how the world wants us to act.  If the world had its way, we would only speak of Christ inside the four walls of MBC and our homes, and be quiet outside of it, even perhaps act worldly to appear we ‘fit in’. 

But God says that we are to deliver the Truth.  The Truth is not always appetizing or easy to swallow and not everyone wants to hear it.  Yet it’s better to speak the Truth because the Truth is ultimately best for all involved.  If we ‘think we will’ speak, we typically will not.  We must speak and do so willingly. 

This is more in line with the proper Christian mindset, ‘I am willing and able to…’.  As long as I’m willing AND able, I will.  If I lose either my willingness or ability, I won’t.  Now I pray I never lose my willingness, but I may lose at some point my ability. 

Once, I was blessed to pick up the check for a group of MBC ladies’ lunches one Sunday after services (they had the waiter tell me I was picking up the check – and they were surprised when I did – you can’t mess with me like that. I sure showed them!).  I was of course thanked by the ladies, which blessed me, but afterwards my tablemates (in an indirect, round-about way) asked why I did that. 

My response was two-fold; the first is a quote from Percy Ross (the late philanthropist who gave kids bicycles), “He who gives while he lives, knows where it goes”, which is perhaps not biblical but a good guideline to live by. the second half was, I was willing to pick up the check, and was able to pick up check, so I did.

In the case of whether to pick up a check or not, if I was unwilling to do so, I would have said, ‘that’s a no for me, dawg‘ and rejected the offer. Or, if I was willing but find out down the road the money we saved or the funds we receive are not enough to pay for the bills, I will have lost my ability to be so generous even if I’m willing to do so.  (We probably wouldn’t have been eating out, either, to be put in the situation.)

In the case of Christ, we may be willing to share the Gospel, but our ability to share may become hampered by societal or Government edict, or by a future physical disability that I suffer.  My ability to share these blogposts in a public format may one day be blocked by ‘social media protocols’ who deem Christian speech as hate speech.  It’s not far-fetched, as it has happened (and to some extent still is happening) on several social media sites to some degree in the past (and for some, currently).

However, my willingness (I pray the Lord gives me the strength to keep it) will let me do what I’m able to do should my ability becomes restricted.  It may not be me writing this blog and posting it, but instead it will need to be solely face-to-face, the personal sharing of the Gospel. 

Of course, the censorship on Christian thought is full-throttle in China, North Korea, and most Muslim countries. This is what works in places like China, the personal one-on-one interactions to share the Good News of Christ, to have private (and secret) Bible studies because someone is willing to use the ability they have and are afforded to share the Gospel. 

Paul was in the same boat, he was willing to share the Gospel, but was not able to leave prison to share to the public.  But he was able to share inside the prison and was able to write letters to send to those outside of it.  Make it a point to be willing to do what you are able to do in sharing the Gospel and allow the Truth to come out.  You’ll be blessed that you will!