Get the Good News

Isaw on Instagram the other day that a company called Duck Camp that “makes premium outdoor goods” was having a Crawfish Derby. I don’t know what that is but it sounds fun. There is going to be food, music and swag.

Why isn’t the church going and or doing something like that so that others can potentially get in on this “abundant life (John 10:10)” Jesus is giving away with salvation (Romans 6:23). Everybody likes swag and that’s some good swag - it beats a t-shirt doesn’t it? Isn’t this what we are sent out from the church to do? We leave the weekly worship service (airport - do you remember last week’s reference from Reggie McNeal’s Missional Renaissance: Changing the Scorecard for the Church book) to practice being sent out into our mission field (destination)?

What if you and another person from the airport (your church) got together and hosted a Crawfish Derby and what if you invited your pagan friends and neighbors and what if the Crawfish Derby became a weekly discipleship event and what if these pagans became your brothers and sisters in Christ? What if these new Christians invited their pagan friends to the weekly Crawfish Derby and they became Christians!? This is what Heaven celebrates isn’t it (Luke 15:10)? This is what the airport (church) does.

Some would say the church has been blessed to be a blessing and that evangelism is not a program or an activity but the natural overflow of a Christ-like life. Matthew 28:19 & 20, the Great Commission is about as we go. As we go through life, as we go to Walmart, as we go to work, as we go to Little League, as we go, we will have Gospel conversations. Telling others about what Jesus has done for you does not require a PowerPoint presentation. This is part of Genesis 12, the church, like Abraham has been blessed to be a blessing. Rather than think of sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ as evangelism, think of it as being a blessing. I think we make it way harder than it has to be. Does that make sense?

The Blonde and I do a discipleship/Bible Study/ Book Club over Zoom on Thursday nights with some awesome people and we are camping out in Luke 14:26-35 that reminds us that being a Christian, following Jesus is a high calling and the foundational truth is we lose our lives when we go through that narrow gate, we die to self and the life we now live Christ lives through us (Gal. 2:20) All of that makes me think about how I live daily, my own selfish pursuits that make me happy. Am I blessing myself more than others? Do I even want to be a blessing to God? Where does God fit in daily with my “motives, desires, thoughts, choices and actions?” What’s “driving and directing” my life?

If Jesus said He did not have a place to lay His head (Matthew 8:20) I’m pretty sure He did not have a Cuisinart Grind & Brew 12 cup coffee pot and a favorite coffee mug. How attached to this world am I? Meanwhile there are three billion people without access to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. What’s my responsibility to God to get the Good News to them?

While I try to figure that out I think I better get busy finding out what a Crawfish Derby is, find some others that are following Jesus and want to live as described in Scripture and get going. He said we could!

He told me to tell you that.