Harvest Daily 10/26/04
Harvest Daily Devotional
by Pastor Greg Laurie
October 26
Communicating the Gospel
For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. -John 3:16
The Bible's greatest example of communicating the gospel is none other than Jesus Christ. Not only is He God. Not only is He our Savior. But He also was the perfect example of communication. He modeled how to communicate. And you can read story after story in the Gospels of how Jesus approached people and how He spoke with them.
In fact, it's worth noting that some of the most profound statements that Jesus ever made took place in one-on-one conversations. One famous Bible verse that we love to quote took place in a one-on-one conversation with a religious man known as Nicodemus (see John 3:16). But the thing that you notice about Jesus is that He adapted to the people that He spoke to. Jesus adjusted how He communicated depending on the person's needs, background, and situation in life.
Many times when people share their faith they behave as though they are preprogrammed computers. They repeat the same thing to every person. They get this sort of glazed look over their eyes. It's no wonder that the person they are speaking to thinks they are a religious nut and immediately dismisses them.
But that is certainly not the example that Jesus gave us. He took time with people. He took time to understand them. Jesus also possessed something that is unknown to many Christians today. It's called tact. The word tact has been defined as the intuitive knowledge of saying the right thing at the right time. And that is why we need to try to assess the situation and ask that God will give us wisdom as we seek to reach people with the gospel.
Copyright (c) 2004 by Harvest Ministries. All rights reserved.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright (c) 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Bible text from the New King James Version is not to be reproduced in copies or otherwise by any means except as permitted in writing by Thomas Nelson, Inc., Attn: Bible Rights and Permissions, P.O. Box 141000, Nashville, TN 37214-1000.
