Dear Folks,

Acts of the Apostles shows Peter and Paul sharing the Gospel message.  How are we to share the Gospel story? Like Peter and Paul, we start by being connected to Jesus, to have a relationship with Jesus. Without that, we can’t tell the story.

Clearly, how we share the Gospel story depends on our audience (compare Acts 17:22-31 with Acts 22:1-21), but what is the basic message, and how do we proclaim it to someone who doesn’t understand sin or our need for salvation? I think we should start with what this Gospel means to us. 

The essence of the Gospel is the gift of self.  The Lord gave Himself to us out of love and calls us to give ourselves to him in return. From the materialist point of view is true, love is a side effect of the mating instinct, which itself is a side effect of the passing on of the genes. He gives Himself in love and has done so for all eternity.  The Father is eternally giving Himself to the Son, who is eternally receiving and returning Himself in love, and the Holy Spirit is the love that passed between them. This is the perfect community of love, but love always seeks to produce fruit, and so this God created us, from perfect, unselfish love. 

We learn to receive that gift and give ourselves in return. We sin in refusal to give ourselves, or false giving of ourselves (more on that another time). 

It must be Christ centered: It’s about the work of Jesus. Jesus is the answer to our deepest longings. I may want chocolate ice cream, but that’s not one of my deepest longings. Connecting to Jews, the apostles talked about how Jesus was the fulfillment of the Scriptures. Talking to Greeks who followed other gods were taught that Jesus was the one they were looking for (Acts 17:22-31).  He is the one who give us rain, crops, and food (Acts 14:15-17). As much as we get annoyed by rain spoiling our plans, crops and food are such good things.

We are not loving enough to turn to actual love. We can only be drawn to it by Jesus’ perfect act of love. Jesus came so that the perfect act of love could save us from ourselves. 

Sometimes we talk about what Jesus did for us personally: we see Peter and Paul both shared something of what Jesus did with them (Acts 11, 22, and 26). They did not tell the whole story about their walk with, God, but the bit that was relevant at the moment. Still, it would not be bad to have a grip on how God has gotten us to this point. I was never taught to do that, but I’ve been working on that (again, more on that another time).

How would you tell the Gospel story? How would you do it avoiding religious language? How has Jesus gotten you where you are? Do you see Him at work in you? Hmm.

Blessings,

Fr. Jim