2. Let your gospel words be earnest.
We communicate that the gospel is a serious matter because it is a serious matter.
I’m not suggesting that everyone should have the same temperament, but I am saying that life-saving “good news” should be offered with sobriety, sincerity, and zeal. No one listens to proclamation about serious issues presented in frivolous ways. When preaching Christ, we need clarity and sincerity.
3. Let your gospel words be heard outside the local church.
Making disciples means giving the gospel to those outside the church.
Since we believe that the only God-given means of transferring people from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of light involves the preaching of the gospel with words, we should be compelled to speak such words to any who will listen. As the ones sent by God (that’s us), we should be ready to “tell the story” to the unconverted people in our neighborhoods, schools, and workplaces.
4. Let your gospel words be heard inside the local church.
The gospel should be spoken in the church because even the redeemed can drift back toward the opposite temptations of legalism and lawlessness.
One of the most important things a Christian does is to redirect other Christians back to Jesus though the good news of the gospel. And we need to speak it in the church so that the unbelievers visiting among us can hear how precious it remains to our lives, that it is not merely a way station on our spiritual journey. The gospel is spoken in the company of faith for both our sanctification and our worship.
The gospel requires, demands even, words. So let’s preach the gospel, and let’s use words, since they’re necessary. May they be clear and bold words that call those inside and outside the church to follow Jesus.
