Good News In Perilous Times

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How do we share the good news (gospel) in today’s perilous times when people are increasingly regarding God as irrelevant? To be effective, we need to understand the important demands and challenges that are taking place in people’s lives, e.g.:

  1. People are busier than ever before and they are working longer hours in their jobs. Therefore, we must always be ready to give an answer to everyone who asks us to give the reason for the hope we have (1 Pet. 3:15). We need to confidently share what we know about Jesus Christ and what He means to us. We need to share the whole gospel truth in love. We should preach only Jesus Christ and not ourselves (2 Cor. 4:5), clearly and to the point. Long-winded and argumentative approaches will not work.

  2. Many people are now more dysfunctional (broken) as individuals, families and societies. Therefore, we must realise that the process of winning them for Jesus Christ and their healing may take more time and patience. We must not cause them to stumble even as we try to share the gospel to them so that they may be saved (1 Cor. 10:32-33). Increasingly more people are showing interest in unseen and spiritual things but not in the Holy Bible or in Jesus Christ.

  3. More and more people now have a marginalized view of Christianity and the church. Therefore, we need more than ever before to model and proclaim Jesus Christ to them in their own world. We must not expect them to enter our world to hear us out. In 2 Cor. 5:20, the Apostle Paul reminds us that we are ambassadors of Jesus Christ. This means that we are to be God’s representatives in their “foreign lands”.  

Therefore, it has become urgent that these non-Christians are challenged to see in us (Christians) the authentic love of Jesus Christ in ways that validate Christianity over New Age teachings and other religions. In Jn. 13:34-35, Jesus Christ gave us this commandment: “A new command I give you: love one another….. By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you love one another.”
Accordingly, when we share the good news today, we should be always asking these questions: “Is this what God wants us to say?” and “Is this how He wants us to say it?”

Give me a passion for souls, dear Lord,
A passion to save the lost;
O that Thy love were by all adored,
And welcomed at any cost. (Torey)