How much should we proclaim the Good News?
Updated: Jan 6, 2022
Some religious folks are content essentially passively holding their 'nugget' of the truth, however they might interpret that. Christians, however, have the burden of 1. "making disciples of people everywhere" (aside: "disciple" does not necessary mean "one who identifies as Christian") and of 2. sharing the Good News.
But what is the Good News? How are we to share this Good News? How much time and effort should we spend sharing the Good News vis-a-vis all the other calls on our lives (like feeding the hungry, visiting the prisoner, etc.)
The simplest answer: it depends.
The slightly more complicated answer: probably more time and effort than we do now.
First, what is the Good News? Good News is the English translation of the Greek gospel. Pin-pointing its precise definition is actually rather difficult. I take it to mean the 'nugget' of Christianity, which is the promise of new life. Others might take the nugget to be salvation, or reconciliation, or redemption, or an eternity in Heaven...those all have solid Biblical rationale.
Boiling down the life and ministry of Jesus to any one thing is impossible and disingenuous to this complex person. But the overall arc of Jesus's life, death, and resurrection parallels what we learn from ecology and from human resilience in general. There is life, there is death, then there is life again. Or maybe this: there is life, there is adversity, then there is adaptation. Or maybe this: there is life, there is brokenness, there is reconciliation. Even when things seem terrible, like humanity faces an existential threat, or like ecosystems are on the brink of collapse, the gospel reminds us that there is more. There is always more. God assures us of this.
So, on the one hand, especially in times of despair we should spend a good deal of our time and energy reminding ourselves and others of the gospel message of new life. The Christian dilemma stems from there being multiple, simultaneous calls on our lives and we have to prioritize each of them.
To what degree do you feel called to actively share the Good News?