What Gospel Do You Share?

1 Thessalonians 2:1-7 (NLT)

You yourselves know, dear brothers and sisters, that our visit to you was not a failure.2 You know how badly we had been treated at Philippi just before we came to you and how much we suffered there. Yet our God gave us the courage to declare his Good News to you boldly, in spite of great opposition. 3 So you can see we were not preaching with any deceit or impure motives or trickery.

4 For we speak as messengers approved by God to be entrusted with the Good News. Our purpose is to please God, not people. He alone examines the motives of our hearts.5 Never once did we try to win you with flattery, as you well know. And God is our witness that we were not pretending to be your friends just to get your money! 6 As for human praise, we have never sought it from you or anyone else.

7 As apostles of Christ we certainly had a right to make some demands of you, but instead we were like children among you. Or we were like a mother feeding and caring for her own children.

Let's focus today on just verse 4 in this passage. Paul begins speaks about being entrusted with the Good News. I believe as Christians we are all entrusted with the Good News, and it's our privilege and responsibility to share it. We must be careful though that we are sharing the true Gospel of salvation through grace and not an insufficient self-made religion. This is why I believe Paul continues on to discuss people pleasing. It's much easier to tell people what they want to hear; to perhaps exclude things from the Gospel, or to add things that will be attractive to unbelievers. This 'gospel' you present is not the true life saving Gospel. Paul talks about this again in Galatians 1:6-12, and in verse 9 discusses those who preach a different Gospel. 

9 As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let them be under God’s curse. 

For me, preaching the true gospel is acknowledging my shortcomings, and not pretending to have it together all the time. I need to show unbelievers (and believers) in my life, that being a Christian does not mean that I have it all together and can save myself by doing the right things. Jesus had to come and die because I do screw up, so pretending that's not true is me unintentionally showing a different Gospel.

It is also important to note that there is a balance. I think this acknowledgment of our shortcomings with others is best in small groups or one on one. You don't need to act like a total mess all the time, just be willing to be vulnerable with those closest to you, in order to glorify the work God is doing in your life though the saving power of Jesus.

What about you?

How do you share the Gospel?

Are there ways you intentionally, or unintentionally try and "adjust" the Gospel? 

Do you struggle with people pleasing?

Did other verses in the passage stand out to you?