Pulls and Proclamation #Analogy

First, happy new year! May 2021 resemble 2020 in no significant ways. Yeesh!

Next, one important thing WILL be the same: the Christian's role as a proclaimer of the gospel. Our opportunities to carry out Christ's mandate (Mt 28:18-20) will likely (please please please) LOOK different this year. Still, the command and calling are the same whatever our situation dictates in terms of expression and form.

So, as we consider those possibilities, I offer another analogy that points to the very personal and individual nature gospel proclamation. I present to you the dresser, the desk, the buffet or secretary, and probably most appropriately, the file cabinet. More to the point, let me draw your attention to the PULL.

Inside all the aforementioned pieces of furniture - if things are the way they ought to be - we can find some really good stuff, some important stuff, things helpful, informative perhaps and, especially, valuable. But no matter how great the contents, we will struggle to access them unless the drawers and or doors have pulls.

If you are a regenerate Christian - a person who has been born again into an eternal life in Christ - then you are the furniture (tweaking a fusion of Paul's analogy of temple and body). You are a real, live container for the life of Christ expressed by gospel. You hold something that is critically needed by those with whom you interact and especially by those with whom you have influence.

                     

But how can they access the gospel if there are no pulls? It is one thing for people to see Christ in you. It is another thing for them to find a handle for it, some way to grasp it for themselves. Now, we understand conversion is God's work. His Spirit causes the gospel truth to resonate in a mind and heart when, and only when, he begins to awaken and enliven them to it. But HOW does he bring that resonance?

Your proclamation is the pull. You will speak the gospel truths in a way that God has appointed to be exactly the way someone needs to hear them. Your pastor could talk to them for a thousand years and it still not click. A seminary prof could explain it a thousand ways and they'd still not get it. But you might make one statement of testimony to them, and then see their eyes light up with understanding. Something about the way YOU say it will explode in epiphone for someone.

That's God's beautiful creativity. Gospel evangelism is not some biblical expression of the Clone Wars. You and every other Christ-follower is uniquely equipped to deliver the gospel as a firsthand witness. Do the work to be obedient to Peter's command to be prepared to give an explanation for the hope that is in you (1 Pt 3:15). Yes, always dive deeper in your own gospel exploration so that you are a better and better spokesperson. Then understand that your delivery will be - and should be - unique. The message is one, but the messengers are diverse.

There are a bazillion different styles of pulls out there. The many people you run into are a little like DYI home reno shoppers. They are surveying all the options, listening to a lot of worldviews and suggestions regarding the big questions of life. Somebody will run into you, and - if you are ready for the opportunity - they will find the pull they've been looking for. They've surely run into others with the life of Christ inside, but something about the way YOU talk about it will suddenly give them a hold on it.

Your proclamation of the gospel - your specific proclamation - is a pull for someone. That means you must be prepared for the moment, be obedient in the moment and be yourself. Praise God for his generosity to allow you the chance to be a unique collaborator in his life-giving work!