What does it really even mean to "incarnate" the Gospel in our community? How does the Good News that Jesus Christ came, lived, died, and rose again affect the way we live? Does it? Does it affect the way we view the world? The way we regard others? I've heard it said that "he who wants just enough of Christ to save himself is not likely to have even that much." Perhaps if we were more acutely aware of what actually took place when God came and "made His home among us" (John 1:14, NLT), we would be...I don't know...different. More urgent, pehaps? Jesus said some amazing things about the gospel. He likened it to "a treasure that a man discovered hidden in a field. In his excitement, he hid it again and sold everything he owned to get enough money to buy that field. Again, the Kingdom of Heaven is like a merchant on the lookout for choice pearls. When he disovered a pearl of great value, he sold everything he owned and bought it" (Mat 13:44-46). This pearl of great value! Is it not worth everything? Is it not the only thing worth anything?
Paul got it. That's what he meant when he declared that all he had "accomplished" was "rubbish" in light of the surpassing greatness of knowing Jesus Christ. Rubbish is a word that we don't use much in America. It's only used the one time in all of Scripture because it's that grotesque a word. It means detestable and worthless - like that of an animal's excrement. Gross, eh? But Paul understood that his "resume" was that meaningless compared to this "pearl of great value" which was worth giving up everything for. In the deepest part of his heart, he realized that being in Christ IS everything! It's the only thing!! That moving deeper into the gospel was real Life.
So here we are. Christ's ambassadors on Long Island. Hand picked to be the ones through which He pleads with people and implores them to come back to Him! (2 Cor. 5:20). I don't need to look far to discover why to share it. I don't need to convince myself that I should. The deeper I swim, the more I feel compelled to share. I must! I need only look as far as the my own story: my own marvelous discovery of this treasure that is worth giving everything for...because it IS everything. The more deeply we come to realize how good this news really is, the more desperate we will be for others to have it, too!
Lord, help us better understand the value of this treasure!
Paul got it. That's what he meant when he declared that all he had "accomplished" was "rubbish" in light of the surpassing greatness of knowing Jesus Christ. Rubbish is a word that we don't use much in America. It's only used the one time in all of Scripture because it's that grotesque a word. It means detestable and worthless - like that of an animal's excrement. Gross, eh? But Paul understood that his "resume" was that meaningless compared to this "pearl of great value" which was worth giving up everything for. In the deepest part of his heart, he realized that being in Christ IS everything! It's the only thing!! That moving deeper into the gospel was real Life.
So here we are. Christ's ambassadors on Long Island. Hand picked to be the ones through which He pleads with people and implores them to come back to Him! (2 Cor. 5:20). I don't need to look far to discover why to share it. I don't need to convince myself that I should. The deeper I swim, the more I feel compelled to share. I must! I need only look as far as the my own story: my own marvelous discovery of this treasure that is worth giving everything for...because it IS everything. The more deeply we come to realize how good this news really is, the more desperate we will be for others to have it, too!
Lord, help us better understand the value of this treasure!
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