Putting The "GO" back in the Gospel

"I simply argue that the Cross be raised again at the center of the market place as well as on the steeple of the church. I am recovering the claim that Jesus was not crucified in a Cathedral between two candles, but on a Cross between two thieves; on the town garbage heap; on a crossroads so cosmopolitan that they had to write his title in Hebrew and in Latin and in Greek; at the kind of place where cynics talk smut and thieves curse, and soldiers gamble. Because that is where he died and that is what he died about. And that is where churchmen should be and what churchmen should be about" Scottish theologian George McLeod (1895–1991) Some way and some how, preaching and preachers have to get out of the pulpit. In the same way, those filling pews must rise from their isolation. The power of the ministry of Jesus was His contact with the people He was seeking to touch with His message. I am not going to bash the "seeker" services that are very popular today. I think they have a place in the over all scheme of things. I am not going to bash the time preachers spend in sermon and lesson preparation, it is valuable and needed. I know we live in a busy world and our kids are involved in all sort of activities. But if we are ever to reach the lost in today's world, we are going to have to take the gospel back to the streets, back to where the lost live. Our "come and get it" approach to teaching and preaching today is falling far short of our mission. In a couple weeks we will again be reminded of His death, burial and resurrection in special ways as Easter approaches. There will be dramas that will explore the Passion and stories related to it. We will be reminded again of the awful cost of our salvation. People will show up for that special Sunday that will not be seen again at least until Christmas, but more than likely next Easter. The vast majority of our neighbors will not do anything differently. It will be just another Sunday to them. If they ever come to know Him, we are going to have to take the message to them, they are not coming to us. Oh, we will tell the story to a few who show up once a year, but the vast majority of the lost will stay that way unless we start doing something differently. In the weeks ahead as you hide your eggs, eat loads of those chocolate bunnies and tell stories of the Easter Bunny to all those little ones, don’t forget WHY He came, and WHY He died, and Why He Rose Again.