I remember being called out by a pastor. He gave me 3 seconds to explain why I follow Jesus. But, this wasn’t done sitting across from each other at a comfortable coffee shop while discussing various religious topics. No, it was a Sunday morning. It was done as he stood on stage, during his message while guest speaking at the church where I was the youth pastor.
He was making a point about knowing the gospel and Jesus so well that you can share your reason for following Him in the amount of time it takes for an elevator door to close. About 3 seconds.
During the illustration, he saw me in the crowd and immediately and unprompted asked,
“Jayson, why do you follow Jesus?”
I sat there hoping it was a rhetorical question, nodding my head in agreement as my adrenaline kicked in and saliva pooled in my mouth. In that split moment, he proceeded to say, “Stand up and share to the audience why you follow Jesus. You have 3 seconds. Go.”
There I was, on the spot in front of hundreds. I couldn’t avoid answering this one. And the clock had started, no time to think.
Defining the Gospel
The reason for the question was to see if the gospel gave me reason to follow Jesus, or if its something else. First, do we know the gospel and are we truly convinced by it to follow Jesus daily? Second, does it compel us so much to share it with others at a moments notice?
We have the opportunity to minister to thousands of students each summer. As we went into the summer of 2014 we were interested in seeing how students attending NTS Camp would define the gospel. We thought that if the students were able to define the gospel in an accurate and succinct way, it increases the likelihood of them sharing the gospel with others. I’m sure we can all agree to that. So we asked them to define the gospel at the end of a survey. They didn’t have the week to think about it, just a few minutes to write out their answers when they got to the end of the survey.
The results of the survey gave us a glimpse of what these students know about the gospel and how they would define it. Amongst the thousands of surveys, the responses broke down into 7 different categories. They are listed in the order of most to least, with #1 having the largest amount of students responding the same way:
The Gospel is…
- Word of God/Bible
- The account of Jesus’ life from birth to death
- Other general answers
- The first four books of the New Testament (Matthew, Mark, Luke, John)
- I don’t know
- The salvation story in reference to the forgiveness of our sins
- Good advice to live life by
So according to this breakdown, the answers that closely resembled the “good news” about Jesus Christ, about salvation and the forgiveness of sins He provides when we place our faith in Him – had the second to least amount of responses. Even though many responses were in the ballpark of the gospel (An account to the life of Jesus), the percentage was very small of students knowing for sure what the actual gospel is.
How would your church or youth ministry respond to this bit of information? After this report, it convicts us of our NEED to clarify the gospel and the NEED to do a better job explaining it and not assuming it.
If you were to ask people in your church or students in the youth ministry to define the gospel, how would they respond?
Would they respond like these students?
“I don’t know. No one has ever really explained it to me.”
“I’m not quite sure, I never hear people talk about it.”
OR this student?
“The Gospel is the greatest thing to ever happen. The God of the universe loved us so much, that He sent His Son, his only, precious, perfect son, to die, shed his blood, and serve as a sacrifice for our sins. Because of Jesus’ death, we have life. If we put our trust in Him, He promises eternal life in Heaven. Jesus brings us hope and true purpose for life. Because of God, my life is completely changed for the better. I desire everyone to have the same hope I have.”
That Sunday morning my answer was “Jesus is the source of truth and life, extended grace to forgive my sins.”
That is why I follow Jesus. The gospel gives me the reason.
So, what category would your definition of the gospel fall into? Are you able to give a reason to why you follow Jesus at a moment’s notice?
Jayson Brewer
Director of Production Design
Never The Same
© 2014, Never The Same