Watch Services

Close Menu X
Navigate

Is the Gospel for Here or to Go?

 

Is the Gospel for Here or to Go?

Dear friends,

If you go to McDonalds and order your favorite meal, inevitably you will be asked: Will this be for here or to go? This is the question I would like to ask us: The gospel--is it for here or to go?

The prophet Jonah needed to wrestle with that question. He knew God is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love--a God who delivers sinners from the judgment they deserve. His theology was impeccable. He believed the right things about God. But the gospel-truths he believed had not yet melted his own heart.

The reason Jonah fled to Tarshish--the far opposite direction of Ninevah--was that he knew what God was like and he disapproved of God’s merciful ways.  He didn’t want to see the Ninevites experience the grace and mercy of God.

I once saw a map of New York City that humorously portrayed the attitude of superiority many New Yorkers have about the Big Apple. The skyline of NYC fills most of the picture. The rest of the USA is shrunk to a comparatively small section and labeled “the wilderness.”

In Jonah's mind, his own country is the center of the universe, and the rest of the world is “the wilderness.” Jonah is happy for God to be the way he is when Jonah is still at home, in his own country, amongst his own people. But if God acts in a God-like fashion to others, then Jonah disapproves.

Sadly, we who have received God's mercy can take it for granted. When this happens we begin to view ourselves as the center of the universe. We cease to stand in awe of the kindness God has shown us, while the plight of others pales into insignificance in our eyes.

Jonah needed fresh waves of gospel truth to wash over his own heart. He needed to realize that he was no more deserving of God’s mercy than the Ninevites. He needed to see that the gospel is “for here”--for the hearts of believers--as well as “to go”--into all the world.

Unless we are continually refreshed with a sense of God's great mercy to us, we will not share his heart of mercy for our fellow man. But when we really appreciate God's mercy to us we will relish every opportunity to demonstrate his mercy to others. Jonah's heart was numb to the magnitude of God's mercy to him, and because of that, he actually despised it when God showed mercy to others.

Is the gospel for here or to go? The correct answer is that it is both: the gospel is for here, and the gospel is to go!

In the gospel, Jesus tells us to come: "Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light" (Matt. 11:28-30).

The gospel calls us personally to come to Jesus, receive from Jesus, learn from Jesus, delight in Jesus, and rest in Jesus. The gospel is for us, my friends. The gospel is for you, today.

But in the gospel Jesus also tells us to go: "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age" (Matt. 28:18-20).

So the gospel is about continually coming to Jesus, and the gospel is about continually going into all the world. The gospel is for here, and the gospel is to go!

If I am not relishing the opportunity to proclaim God's mercy to others, it may be because I have ceased marvelling at God's mercy to me. Gladly, willingly, triumphantly, Jesus came to save me when I was his enemy. I need this good news to fill my heart with joy. I need the gospel to cheer me, to comfort me, to feed me, to thrill me, to move me. And when it does, I cannot keep it to myself!

Praying with you for breakthroughs in gospel outreach,

Pastor David Sunday