The gospel is like a grenade. It doesn’t matter who throws it, it’s gonna blow up. It doesn’t matter if it’s a 12 year old girl or a 22 year old Marine. The power is in the object being thrown, not in the person throwing it.
It doesn’t matter if it’s Billy Graham, Luis Palau or some awkward teenage giving the good news of Jesus Christ to a lost person. The gospel is no respecter of persons on either the giving or the receiving side. It is no more effective in capable hands than it is in stuttering mouths. The power is in the message, not the messenger.
The gospel doesn’t need lights, camera or action. It doesn’t need pyrotechnics or jumbotron screens. It just needs someone to declare it clearly, someone to pull the pin and throw the bomb.
And please don’t ask me how God infused explosive power into a set of propositions. The explanation is beyond my pay grade. I have no idea how God did it, I’m just grateful He did.
This simple message is so powerful that it knocked Saul off his donkey so hard that when he stood up he had undergone a name change, career change and identity change, all in one blinding flash of transformation. Although it blinded his earthly eyes for a few days, it opened his spiritual ones for the rest of his days.
This message is so explosive that the once-Saul-now-Paul rejoiced even when it was being preached by those who had rotten motives. In Philippians 1:15-18 he wrote, “It is true that some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry, but others out of goodwill. The latter do so out of love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel. The former preach Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing that they can stir up trouble for me while I am in chains. But what does it matter? The important thing is that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached. And because of this I rejoice.”
The great apostle would rather have preachers preaching the gospel message out of wrong motives than not preaching the gospel at all! Paul understood that grenades don’t care about motives. They exist to explode and that is all.
So what is our lesson from the gospel grenade? Simply this, you may not feel qualified to give the gospel. You may not feel worthy to share the message with those around you. Just remember that it’s not about you, but about Jesus and His simple message. You are not the power. The gospel is.
You don’t have to be eloquent or smooth as you share it. Just share it. You don’t have to have a Masters of Theology or Doctorate of Divinity to share it. Just share it. Whether you have a white collar, blue collar or no collar, just share it. The gospel message and Holy Spirit will do the rest (2 Thessalonians 2:13,14.)
Your responsibility is to pull the pin, throw the bomb and duck. And when you do explosive things will happen.
Kaboom!
