More Than Mere Messengers

We understand that the Word of God is itself living and active (Heb 4:12), and that it is life to us (Dt 32:47; Mt 4:4). We also understand that life-giving faith comes by hearing this word, and that the dead cannot come to life unless we who are alive in Christ proclaim this word (Rm 10:14-17). But I’m not sure we are always aware of how important is how we deliver the word.

I do not refer to technique or skill. We evangelicals have worked hard and long at crafting these things and training people in them, and these may be helpful to a point. And we are not wrong when we acknowledge that the power that brings salvation is not in the proclaimer but rather in the gospel being proclaimed (Rm 1:16). But we are the agents of proclamation, and it is important that we understand we are more than messengers. We are even more than heralds, though the NT clearly teaches we are that. But the fullest expression of how we deliver the gospel is that we are witnesses.

We know from Jesus himself that the biblical text alone does not bring life to those who reject the Word personified (Jn 5:39). But when Jesus proclaimed the word there were indeed many who believed and came to life, because he spoke with authority (Mt 7:28-9). When we carry this same gospel message we too speak with authority. But we do more than that.

We know from careful study of the NT word kerysso that we proclaim the word as a herald. As such we are called to not only deliver the King’s message but to do so with the proper tone and demeanor. We herald the gospel. But we do still more than that.

The height of our calling is beautifully pictured in Luke’s account of what happened on the road to Emmaus (Lk 24:13-35). Cleopas and another disciple were discussing Scripture about the Messiah. While it doesn’t start out looking like an evangelistic enterprise, when Jesus inserts himself into their discussion they essentially declare the gospel to him, notably including even their own amazement at the claims of their friends that they had seen the resurrected Lord (vv.19b-24). They quote Scripture and declare their hope, but they are deflated and impotent as heralds even in the presence of their Savior.

But something happens that completely changes their demeanor and their presentation. When Jesus breaks bread with them and they finally SEE him, something clicks. They are no longer mere messengers. They are no longer poor heralds, “slow to believe” their own message (v.25). They are witnesses! See how different is their testimony now! “Weren’t our hearts burning within us while he was talking with us on the road and explaining the Scriptures to us?” (v.32).

And so it is with us, whether in the pulpit, or in line at the DMV, at the coffee shop, or at our dinner table. We are called to do more than quote Scripture, and more even than to try to herald the good news with an appropriate amount of hutzpah. We are called to see Jesus, and to so delight in him that we can’t help but run to declare, “The Lord has truly been raised!”

Yes, the Lord will work through his Spirit and his Word to bring souls to life. But how much more fitting if we are first overflowing with his life before we carry the good news to others! We must walk with him, commune with him, and see him for who he is, and then we can be more than mere messengers – we can be witnesses!

Breathe on me, O Life of Heaven

Let your breezes blow afresh

Stir my soul back into motion

Come awake my lifelessness

Come awake my lifelessness!

Move me

Jesus, flow through me

Move me

Jesus, flow through me!

(lyric from the song Still Waters)

Own It?

Do you own a home, or are you renting? Own your car? Making payments? Leasing? Questions of ownership are becoming even more nuanced in our tech-driven, global society. Even the laws are changing. But even in the most idealistic sense of capitalism you might have experienced in the good old USA, how much do you really own? Want to find out? Stop paying your taxes on your house. Stop paying taxes and registration on your car.

We understand this now moves into the software/hardware arena. Good luck using that phone you own, if you don’t have updated software, and pay for a service provider. I don’t even own the processing app in which I am typing right now. I pay an annual fee, because the product I once bought and owned was made obsolete when support was discontinued, and it was replaced with a perpetual product.

These realities teach some pretty good theology. You are not your own. You never were, and never will be. The serpent’s lie to the original couple (Gn 3) was the illusion of autonomy: God can’t tell you not to eat that fruit. He told you you’ll die because he knows that if you do what you want with it, you’ll demonstrate that you can keep on deciding for yourself what is good or evil. In a sense, the lie was about ownership: You can do what you want with that fruit – it’s yours.

Satan apparently believed his own lie, or at least wanted Jesus to believe it. He told Jesus that all the kingdoms of this world were his (Satan’s) to do with whatever he wanted. He even offered to give them to Jesus to own in the same way (Mt 4:8-9; Lk 4:5-6): All this can be YOURS!  But Jesus understood something the first Adam didn’t. The very condition for "ownership" that would have qualified it for Jesus, also qualified it for Satan: worship. Satan said, “If, then, you will worship me, it will all be yours” (Lk 4:7). Jesus understood that is not ownership, but stewardship. The act of worship declares the one being worshiped as the owner, the ultimate authority. Jesus would not do this, because there is only one worthy of worship, and Satan is not that One. God alone deserves worship because of his de facto and rightful ownership. Satan acknowledged the limited terms of his ownership of worldly authority and glory: “for it has been delivered to me.” His ownership was limited and temporal. That is not ownership – it is stewardship. Satan is a lousy steward, because he is trying to act like an owner, twisting and abusing his reign in this world for his own evil desires.

Jesus, on the other hand, performs his stewardship perfectly. As the God-man, he is both steward and true owner. He is steward in his humanity, for because of his perfect obedience to the Father’s will in his humiliation as the Suffering Servant, he is now exalted as the Lord over the kingdom of this world forever (Rv 11:15). He is owner in his deity, as he is the Eternal Word of God, who spoke the world into existence, and is rightful Lord over all heaven and earth as Creator. The Second Adam did what the first did not, acted as steward in perfect agreement with the will of the owner.

So, back to us. Scripture reminds us that we are not owners, but stewards, for we ourselves are not only owing worship to our Creator, but we have been bought with a price, redeemed to him (1 Cor 6:19-20; 7:23). Freedom in the sense of absolute autonomy and ownership is an illusion. No, more than that – a lie. Freedom is reality when our will as a steward comes into agreement with the rightful owner. We are slaves to someone. Either we are slaves to sin (Jn 8:34; Rm 6:1-14), under the dominion of Satan and this world, which is death (Eph 2:1-2), or we are slaves of obedience, of righteousness, of God, which is life (Rm 6:15-23; Eph 2:4-10). The latter is true freedom that elevates the slave to a position of child and heir, and life forever in the presence of God (Jn 8:36).

The perspective of stewardship is crucial for the Christ-follower, for Satan’s lie takes more than one form. The non-Christian is a slave, to be sure. But freedom for the Christian is not ownership. If we think trusting Christ is our gateway to autonomy we have bought a nuanced version of the same old lie. It is capitalist, or American, or prosperity theology, or something else, but it is not biblical. You are not yours any more than your house and car are yours. And it is more than taxes you owe. It is worship. Our stewardship is contingent upon, and has as its aim, the will of our Creator, our Redeemer, and our Lord. When God judges mankind, those who were poor stewards in this life will no longer be stewards. They will be alone with nothing but torment (Mt 24; Lk 12:41-48). But those who worship the Giver of all good gifts through faithful stewardship will reign under him in His presence forever (Rv 20:6; 22:5).

Of course, we cannot be perfectly faithful stewards, and that is why Christ had to accomplish this for us. This is the gospel. Trusting His faithful stewardship is what gives us life and freedom to follow in obedience. When we turn back and start acting like owners, we have quit being worshipers, and quit being faithful stewards. So, let us confess our failures, and walk on as faithful stewards in Christ.