MESSAGE OR MESSENGER?
    In our previous study we found that Jesus sent out the apostles to proclaim the good news (the gospel) that salvation had come to sinful mankind. We call this the Great Commission. "Go ye therefore, and teach all nations." (Mt. 28:19) This command also includes the best way to spread the message far and wide, "teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you," (v. 20) the taught become the teachers. (Is this where Amway got the idea for multi-level marketing?) Who is better qualified to tell the hopelessly lost that a new life is available in Christ? Who would have a greater incentive than those who have themselves been so blessed? While men, in every generation, have looked for a better way to bring sinners to Jesus, they always fail. Why? Because the power is in the message and not the messenger (or the medium.) As Paul taught the Romans, "For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth." (1:16) I believe with all my heart that the gospel has the same power to change lives today as it did 2,000 years ago. Since we are not converting sinners as we once did, we have become good at making excuses that always blame the lost. The truth is that we the messengers are not going to the lost! Remember the persecution that came on the church in Jerusalem after the death of Stephen? "They (the church) were all scattered abroad...except the apostles." (Acts 8:1) These Christians followed the apostle's example and "went every where preaching the word." (v. 4) So without printing presses, radio, TV, or the Internet, Paul said that the gospel "was preached to every creature which is under heaven." (Col. 1:23) And this in only 30 years with average people just like you and me telling the wonderful story of love.

    If the power is in the message and not the messenger, could someone be saved without a person being the teacher? I know Paul said, "How shall they hear without a preacher," defending the financial support of preachers, (Rom. 10:14) but he also said, "whereby when you read you may understand my knowledge." (Eph. 3:4) So, what if a copy of the Bible fell out of an airplane over Africa, could someone pick it up, read about Jesus and believe he was the Son of God? The answer is yes. Would they have to find a Christian to immerse them for the remission of sins? The answer is no. They could immerse each other. You say it couldn't happen? That's the way the church started in Nigeria, West Africa. A native found one Bible correspondence lesson that a congregation in Nashville, Tennessee was sending to soldiers in the Second World War. He studied it, filled out the questions and mailed it back. They sent him the other lessons. He learned about Jesus, believed and had someone immerse him. The Bible says he was saved and added to the church. What say you? Evangelism can be summed up like this: The sacrifice of Jesus and his blood alone saves the sinner. The message is called the gospel and is God's good news that Jesus' death proves he loves all sinners. The gospel contains not only what God has done for man but also the obedience he expects from man. (Rom. 6:17-18) The lost have no hope without this blood so the story must be told and every child of God is responsible to do it. (We cannot abdicate our obedience to preachers, elders or anyone else.) Only when we obey God's command to GO AND TEACH will the lost have a chance to obey God. But please, my brethren, never forget that the message and the message alone has the power to save. "We have heard the joyful sound, Jesus Saves! Jesus Saves!"

    Let's apply what we have learned to some issues that have been raised thru the years. (1) If obedience to the gospel saves, would it matter if you found out years later that the one who taught you had been an adulterer or a homosexual? Of course not. In fact, the first time the Parson heard the subject of homosexuality mentioned in an assembly was when a preacher stepped before the congregation and admitted that he had been caught in the act. I was only a teenager then but it never crossed my mind that anyone would question that the people he had immersed were children of God. I thank God that I was taught about the nondenominational, non-sectarian church of the New Testament when I was young. (2) Paul made the same argument about the motives of the preacher. "Some indeed preach Christ even of envy and strife...the one preach Christ of contention, not sincerely...notwithstanding, every way, whether in pretence, or in truth, Christ is preached; and I therein do rejoice, yea and will rejoice." (Phil. 1:15-18) Many years ago on a live call-in radio program the topic was God's calling. The person on the phone asked, "If God didn't call you, why did you become a preacher?" The preacher replied, "Well, it kept me out of Viet Nam!" He wasn't joking. Have no fear, my friend, your salvation does not depend on the sincerity of the messenger, just the purity of the message. (3) And finally, if Christ and him crucified is preached, a person believes, repents and is immersed for the remission of sins, does it matter what the preacher believes or preaches about other subjects? This, as they say, is where the rubber meets the road. The answer from the Word of God is obvious, clear and simple. The answer given by sectarian minded preachers is a different story. Being just a simple Christian I will only preach what the Bible says: The power of salvation is in the gospel of Jesus Christ the Son of God and not in the messenger.
The Parson, 1/1/05