Proclaim!featured

People sometimes ask me how I decide what to write about.  The short answer is that the Holy Spirit provides the ideas.  This is a kind of mysterious process where an idea comes into my head but somehow, I recognize it as not my own.  Sounds kind of goofy, unless you have experienced it! 

This week the idea of writing about proclaiming the gospel popped into my head.  It was one of those ideas that I thought could not possibly be my own.  I would never voluntarily write about proclaiming!  I have never been a good proclaimer of the gospel.  I do fine in an environment of fellow Christians.  However, when in the company of people whose beliefs are unknown to me, I tend to be quite timid and, well, mostly silent about things of faith.  So, when the Holy Spirit nudged me to write about proclaiming, I was hoping I hadn’t heard right.  Wouldn’t you know that the next day, in my devotional reading there was not one, but two references to proclaiming.  So, here goes!

The Bible has quite a bit to say about proclaiming.  The Psalms frequently reference proclaiming what God has done.  Psalm 35:28 says “My tongue will proclaim your righteousness, your praises all day long.” Psalm 75: 16 tells us, “I will come and proclaim your mighty acts, Sovereign Lord.”  So being a somewhat reluctant proclaimer, I could interpret these as suggestions or good ideas.  However, Psalm 105:1 presents something that looks a whole lot more like a command, “Give praise to the Lord, proclaim his name; make known among the nations what he has done.”

Let’s see what Jesus says about proclaiming.  In Matthew 10:27 Jesus said, “What I tell you in the dark, speak in the daylight; what is whispered in your ear, proclaim from the roofs.” We get some more insight from Luke 9:60; “Jesus said to him, ‘Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God.’”  These statements seem pretty straight-forward to me.  We are to proclaim, we are to speak, we are to share the good news of Jesus Christ with others.  Just to be sure, I looked again at the Great Commission in Matthew 28 where Jesus commanded (not suggested) that we go and make disciples by teaching them.  While Jesus doesn’t use the word proclaim, I don’t think there is way to teach and make disciples without using words in some way!

For those of us who are reluctant proclaimers, we like to think that those with the gift of preaching and teaching are the only ones who are called to proclaim.  Some of us fall back on the old adage that actions speak louder than words.  We delude ourselves into thinking that the recipient of our good deed will instinctively know about Jesus.  What I glean from the Scriptures above is that we have to use words to proclaim.  It is unavoidable!

I think the Holy Spirit has been trying to reinforce with me that proclaiming is any time we use our words to share how Jesus has made a difference in our lives.  1 John 1:3 makes it simple, “We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard…”.  That’s our call, to share what we have seen and heard.  In reality there is nothing more powerful, than our own stories of how we have experienced God’s grace and love.  A couple of weeks ago, my husband went to visit a life-long friend who was terminally ill.  He spoke to this friend about what it meant to be a Christian – he simply shared what he knew to be true.  Our friend accepted Jesus as his Savior that day.  As a result, when this friend died two days later, amid the tears, we could rejoice with his family in the knowledge that he was spending eternity with Jesus.

My proclaiming isn’t going to necessarily look like my husband’s proclaiming.  I hope that these devotionals are one way that God has called me to proclaim but I also know that He wants me to be braver and bolder about sharing my faith out loud.  That’s why the painting above is in such bold colors!  The truth is that proclaiming is not optional.  Jesus told us to do it.  The good news is that God has unique plans for each of us to speak and proclaim the gospel.  Through the power of the Holy Spirit, He will equip us to do it.  We just need willing hearts.  As Matthew 12:34 says, “For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of.”  Amen (let it be so)! [jetpack_subscription_form]