I’ve been told all my life to preach the gospel.
Live the gospel.
BE the gospel.
And lately, I'm having lots of not-so-light conversations with myself about what the gospel [as in, GOOD NEWS] actually might be. I end up with half-thoughts and who-the-heck-knows? thoughts.
Have a look-see...
ME #1: Having a "corner" on THE truth is top of the very most important list.
ME #2: How can anyone have that? Including me?
ME #1: The Bible says A + B = C.
ME #2: Does it? Because sometimes A + B = DEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWYYZ.
ME #1: There’s a sure-fire prayer that will guarantee me heaven. ME #2: Are those exact words really that magical?
ME #1: Managing my behavior is THE goal.
ME #2: Isn’t it loving God and my neighbor, end of story?
ME #1: We need to scare the bajeebers out of people first so they can be saved!
ME #2: Doesn’t perfect love cast out fear? Isn’t that just a sales pitch?
ME #1: I need to keep sacrificing myself on the altar of others.
ME #2: Didn’t Jesus come to end all that?
I know. I know. My brain is a big jumble of uncertainty.
I have more questions than answers. Long-gone are the days when I knew everything irrefutably and I could give quick, sure-fire responses to every query that was posed to me.
Seems awful, right?
But to tell you the truth, it’s NOT.
Hard? Yes. Uncomfortable? Yes. Scary? Yes. Awful? No. It’s holy work to lean into mystery.
Place myself in the posture of not-knowing every single thing.
Let go of my need to be absolutely RIGHT and certain and sure and definite.
Allow for wonder and curiosity about this big God. It's holy and it's down-right freeing.
Do I still want to preach the gospel?
Live the gospel? BE the gospel?
The line-in-the-sand answer to that is YES.
How could I not? Because every single one of us needs some very very GOOD NEWS!
The good news of life.
Comfort.
Freedom.
Healing.
Tenderness.
Welcome.
Mercy.
Beauty.
Grace.
Unwavering love.
Abundance.
Joy.
Peace.
The GOOD NEWS of a VERY VERY GOOD GOD!
And that’s WHO I’m holding onto today.