Why you need to share a world-shaping message
“I’m not ashamed of the gospel”, Paul wrote in Romans. At the Elim Evangelism Conference this autumn, the Bible Society’s Andrew Ollerton explored the power and relevance of the gospel and how Paul shared this good news
When Paul said, “I’m not ashamed of the gospel,” he said it in the context of Rome being an incredibly dominant, impressive, sophisticated city.
As he planned to visit Rome, he was effectively saying that despite all the power and glory it represented, he wasn’t ashamed of the good news message of Jesus.
The people of Rome needed to hear that message despite the fact they had theatres, hot tubs, slaves and everything else.
And if that was true in the first century, it’s just as true today. People in the 21st century, no matter how sophisticated and outwardly impressive their lives may appear, need Jesus.
Called as evangelists, not tourists
A lot of people would have gone to Rome as cultural tourists, pleased to be there spectating and admiring. Paul, however, wasn’t there as a tourist but as an evangelist. Again, that’s relevant today! As 21st century Christians, we’re not called to be tourists of culture who are just looking to have experiences and be happy – a consumer mentality which can easily creep into the church.
Instead, we’re called to be evangelists; understanding culture, reading and learning it but with a view to reaching out rather than just consuming.
Our world-shaping message
The big headline for me in Romans 1-8 is that Paul understands the gospel to be a world-shaping message, not a small religious one.
We assume the word ‘gospel’ is a religious term, but in Roman culture, it was actually one that the emperor would use for bringing good news; the gospel was his action in the world – to defeat enemies, bring reductions in taxes or whatever it might have been.
When Paul uses the word gospel, then, he’s not using a religious word for a little religious message. He’s saying the Christian message takes on everything that claims to own or control the world with a new announcement that Jesus is the real Lord of the world – not the emperor, or Google, or whoever has power and influence today.
The Russian doll gospel
Paul’s message is like a stack of Russian dolls – with elements that are both big and small.
It reached into the small lives of slaves in Rome who would have felt like they were of no importance or worth whatsoever and told them they were loved by God. No one is too small for this gospel. But then the gospel message is large, too, speaking to every area of modern culture, politics and economics.
Divided you won’t conquer
Paul worked very hard for unity within the church because he realised that if the church is divided, it compromises our mission, dissipates our energy and undermines our witness to the world.
In Romans 14 and especially in Romans 15, Paul is working hard to show how the gospel unites us despite our differences. You’ve got Jews and Gentiles, males and females, masters and slaves in the Roman church, and they were clearly facing some divisions.
You’ve got all of these cultural divides and Paul teaches us that despite all our differences, we are one through the gospel.
A mission of words and deeds
In Romans 15, as Paul talks about how he’s seen the gospel work powerfully, he uses this phrase ‘through what I have said and done in the power of the Holy Spirit’. He is saying that the gospel is shared through both words and deeds.
He writes that he’s on his way to Jerusalem to bring a financial gift to Judean Christians who are in poverty. So there’s a social action, poverty relief and a social justice element of the gospel. Then there’s also the words of the message which must be proclaimed. It’s important for us as evangelists to get those two working together; it’s about both what we say and do, all in the power of the Holy Spirit.
When reality bites
In his letter to the Romans, Paul promises a visit, adding that he’s going to go on from Rome to Spain to launch a new mission front. But what actually happens is haunting because instead, he arrives in Rome under arrest, on death row, and appears before the emperor for his life. He is arrested, he’s shipwrecked off Malta, a snake jumps out and bites his arm – everything that could go wrong seems to go wrong.
Paul’s story illustrates the reality that when we’re on mission for Jesus, we’re going to find that we face tremendous challenges, huge obstacles and opposition.
When I was in Rome filming for the Romans Course, I loved going into the prison cell where Paul was held at the end of his life.
There, he wrote Philippians and 2 Timothy and he talks about how right to the end he was sharing the good news of Jesus. He never backed down on that, despite how many things went wrong.
In that prison cell, Paul’s guards became his captive audience and there’s a plaque in the prison cell commemorating all the Roman soldiers who became Christians because of Paul being in chains.
His story is an encouragement to perseverance and to hope in every circumstance.
Andrew Ollerton works for the Bible Society. Check out the Bible Society’s ten-week Romans course at biblesociety.org.uk and Andrew’s latest book, Romans: A Letter that Makes Sense of Life.
This article first appeared in Direction Magazine. For further details, please click here.
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