More Thoughts on the Gospel

Yesterday’s post was not meant to assume that the gospel can be 100% rightly presented in 60 seconds. I think the benefits of knowing how to share the gospel in 60 seconds are innumerable but we should be honest with ourselves and realize that the gospel can be unpacked in seconds, minutes, hours, days, and so on. I had something different ready to post today but instead I want to follow up yesterday’s post by stating some of the difficulties I see in presenting the gospel, especially in a shorter form.

1. Leaving things out.

You may have noticed that I left out the resurrection in the presentation I posted in the comment section. I only realized it just before posting it but decided that I just couldn’t fit it in and make the necessary adjustments while remaining true to the 60 second form.

We all will leave certain things out when trying to present such a concise form of the gospel. That is why I think it’s important to keep two things in view as primary to getting a short presentation of the gospel across, the concept of sin and Christ’s atonement.

2. Weaving different categories of thought together.

The gospel is one of few topics of conversation that can completely destroy previous categories of thought. The reason I say this is because it weaves together the historical with what is happening at this very moment. It speaks to the physical as well as the metaphysical.

When we try to focus on any one of those things we end up missing the point of the gospel. For example, I could say “if you put your faith in Christ you will be saved.” Is that true? Absolutely! Is it sufficient for a person to understand the gospel? Not at all. First, the statement is not grounded in historical fact. Who is Christ? What gives him the authority to save me? Second, it doesn’t define terms. What is faith? What do I need to be saved from? Third, it doesn’t distinctly speak of the physical and the metaphysical. We have to be able to talk about the physical act of sin as well as the spiritual ramifications of sin. We have to talk about what Jesus did on earth and how that helps our spiritual condition.


3. Making sure that you are talking about the same God that they think you’re talking about.

By this I don’t mean that you are talking about Jesus and they think you are talking about Allah. Consider this, if you are talking about God to a person who is not truly saved, chances are they have some misconceptions about God.

I tried to do this (though I think I could have done better) in my 60 second version. Here are statements I made that build an understanding of the true God:

“God created man…” This should give an understanding to the person that God has authority over man as his Creator. It should also give some understanding of God’s sovereignty.

“…in His own image…He created us as good beings” God created man in His image. If He created man “good” it should follow in the person’s mind that God is, if nothing else, good.

“Sin is treason against a holy God” This statement tells the person that God is holy and the concept of treason helps define God’s holiness as it shows that He is the highest being in the hierarchy of the universe.

“…and God, being perfectly just, must punish sin.” I hope this part comes across the way I intended it. Part of God’s character is justice. If God is perfectly just He must punish sin. That is not because there is a law above God to which He must obey. It means that God is what justice is. If that is true He must punish sin.

“God is also loving and merciful” When presenting the gospel I try to connect love with mercy. God’s love is demonstrated in His mercy (Romans 5:8). The fact that He is loving does not demand that He show mercy. At this point wording is important because you don’t want to give or help maintain the impression that God gives salvation universally.

“Jesus bore the wrath that you and I cannot bear” Statements like this show that God’s wrath is a terrible thing to experience. It also shows the value of Christ’s atonement. He, as God, can do what we are incapable of.

4. Showing the relevance of the gospel to the person.

We can talk all day about “man’s condition” but it means nothing if we can’t show the person with whom we are sharing the gospel that it is about them and how they relate to God. For example, Romans 1:18-32 is all about man in general and how mankind has turned from God and is now under the wrath of God. But Paul didn’t leave it there and move to the good news of the gospel. Instead, chapter 2 begins with the words “therefore you have no excuse…” (2:1 emphasis added). That is the only way he could get to “…all have sinned…” (3:23) and then speak of Christ’s atoning work.

How do we do this? I think the best way is to hold up the mirror of moral standing, namely, the Ten Commandments. Memorize them and put people to the test. A simply question like “how many lies have you told in your life?” can be very telling of a person’s need for salvation.

I know this post is pretty long but I hope it is still useful. I am still looking for the best way of communicating the gospel and I hope you are as well. Keep working at developing your own 60 second version and I think it will help you with your 5 minute, 2 hour, and life-long gospel presentations as well.

Grace and Peace,
Stephen