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Show yourself in all respects to be a model of good works, and in your teaching who integrity, dignity, and sound speech that cannot be condemned, so that an opponent may be put to shame, having nothing evil to say about us.

- Titus 2.7-8

If you spend much time watching politics, you’ll learn that it is impossible to say anything without being attacked for one reason or another. Reporters, news analysts, political opponents, journalists, and a host of other people will take whatever is said and twist it to fit their own views. Sometimes it seems like people are less interested in the truth of what was said as they are in furthering their own view on a particular issue.

Thankfully, this article isn’t about politics; it’s about the gospel. However, we will find that the same things are true about preaching the message of Jesus. There will be people who argue with anything that is said. They don’t like to hear about the gospel and they will twist what it says to attack and defend their own position rather than searching for the truth. This seems to be something that all human beings are good at doing.

Sometimes, it isn’t the content of the message that is disagreeable but the manner in which it was presented. I have seen preachers stand on college campuses and yell at the crowds around them. I have heard preachers belittle those who disagree with them from the pulpit. I have seen people resort to personal attacks when someone wouldn’t listen to them about the gospel. What is the point of doing those things? What profit do we think we can gain from it?

The truth of the matter is that there is none. The gospel is already a difficult message for people to accept because it calls all of us out on our faults. It clearly states that no one is good enough to earn heaven through their own works of righteousness. That’s hard to swallow. We can make it even more so by presenting the message in hateful or hurtful ways.

To defend the vitriol, some people may reference the preaching of the prophets and how they spoke to the nation of Israel. That’s all well and good, but the last time I checked we aren’t preaching to a single nation bound under the Old Covenant to God (I haven’t met any Jeremiahs or Ezekiels lately, either). We aren’t teaching the law of Moses but the love of Christ. We aren’t preaching fire and brimstone, but grace and mercy. I certainly agree that there are times to talk about judgment and wrath; those are very important topics. However, rather than being quick to lump people into groups and casting them into the fire ourselves, those things should be presented as judgments from which Jesus provides the way of escape. The message we have been called to preach is a message of hope, forgiveness, grace, salvation and love. We should preach this message in a way that accords with the content.

This passage from Titus is a heart check. Why am I teaching others? Why am I preaching Jesus? Is it because I want to make myself feel better, or is it because I honestly care about the souls of others and want them to be saved? When Paul was telling this young preacher how he ought to behave in his work, he was setting an example for all Christians in the way we work in serving the Lord. This isn’t a passage that only applies to those who preach the gospel from a pulpit; it applies to everyone who is a Christian.

We have the greatest message that the world has ever been given. We have Jesus. The forgiveness, grace, mercy and love that we have in Christ should compel us to tell others about the wonderful gift of salvation that can only be had in Jesus. These things also ought to compel us to teach others in a way that shows we have truly been converted by the love of Christ and have been taught to love by our God and Father.

We can’t help it if people reject the gospel because they don’t like the content. Jesus himself said that some people will love the darkness rather than the light. However, we can keep people from rejecting the gospel because of the way it was presented. Let us be those who speak the truth in love with the best interest of others as our motivation.

Prayer: Father, please help us to focus on our hearts. Help us to be completely devoted to you and converted to your love, as shown to us by your son, Jesus. Please help us to change ourselves and then to lovingly, prayerfully, boldly and hopefully teach the message of salvation to others. Please bless our efforts in teaching, and give us the courage to take the opportunities we have. Amen.