Passing On The Message

I was reading some of Paul’s letters, and came across a couple of passages in I Thessalonians 2 I never noticed before:

Even though we had some standing as Christ’s apostles, we never threw our weight around or tried to come across as important, with you or anyone else. We weren’t aloof with you. We took you just as you were. We were never patronizing, never condescending, but we cared for you the way a mother cares for her children. We loved you dearly. Not content to just pass on the Message, we wanted to give you our hearts. And we did. (6-8, The Message)

With each of you we were like a father with his child, holding your hand, whispering encouragement, showing you step-by-step how to live well before God, who called us into his own kingdom, into this delightful life. (12, The Message)

While reading those passages, I was deeply moved as I thought about the people God has placed in my life who accept me just the way I am; who give me their hearts and encourage me to share mine; who don’t behave spiritually superior; who show me how to live well; who encourage me to walk with Holy Spirit.

I spent most of my life feeling spiritually less-than because the Message I received lacked love and grace. Truth be told, I still struggle with that.

You see, when we’re content to just pass on the Message, we don’t pass on the heart of the Message: love. I know people who pass on the Message in such a way that the listeners walk away feeling as if they’ve been spiritually and emotionally violated. The Message they share includes Jesus and salvation, but lacks grace and love. It’s a God-will-tolerate-you-and-your-disgusting-sin message. That’s a turn-off, and most people will reject the Message in that form. And those who do accept it often feel as if they’ve been manipulated.

The Message, the good news of Jesus, is love…unconditional, arms-open-wide love. And not a tolerant love; but an accepting, come-just-as-you-are, grace-filled love. His is not a love that welcomes us, then puts us in the time-out chair to shame us for every wrong. No! God never sees us as spiritually less-than because He sees the righteousness of Jesus in us! He welcomes us, then parents and nurtures us as the loving, gentle Father that He is. {I’m still letting that sink into every fiber of my being. Some days are more difficult than others. But on the days when I recognize it, I am overwhelmed with gratitude!}

Y’all, the Message is messy: Jesus born in poor conditions, rejected by His own, died a cruel death, alive again in three days. It’s definitely not a Cinderella story, but that coming back to life thing seems almost make-believe. The Message is messy and requires faith to believe. That means when we share the Message, we better be willing to get messy and exhibit our own faith! We better be willing to get involved in people’s lives…to accept them as they are, to love them unconditionally, to encourage them when everyone else abandons them, to share the grace we’ve been given…just like Paul.