Finding My Message

On Tuesday I sent my book proposal to my agent, Karen. It’s been quite the 2.5 year journey to get to this point! I think I spent more time trying to run away from writing a book than actually being obedient. Good thing Jesus is so gracious and so persistent. And now it is out of my hands and into His. It feels exciting, terrifying, kind of unreal, and unexpectedly peaceful all at the same time.

My sister and bestie (who also happens to be my editor, encourager, and confidant) asked me the other day, “Are you ready for this to potentially change your life?”

I don’t know. But I’ve been thinking about it, a lot. And the biggest question I’ve been wrestling with is, what is my message? It’s one thing to blog, but what if my book actually gets published, and what if I am given opportunities to speak to people? What do I tell them?

I’ve been thinking and praying about this a lot, and after a long, passionate talk with my husband last night, I think I know. It’s actually pretty simple and unimpressive, haha! 🙂

I think I’m supposed to share the clear, simple gospel and include the parts that often get ignored or missed.

• God made you for a relationship with Him and He loves you more than you could ever imagine.
• But we are enemies of God and our sin (lack of perfection) separates us from that relationship. Sin brings death.
• God knew from the beginning that we could never work hard enough or earn our way back to Him, so He came as Jesus. Jesus lived, loved, died, and rose again taking the punishment for sin and destroying the power of it!
• If we trust in Jesus alone, we can have forgiveness and eternal life.
• Through Jesus, God has restored our relationship with Him! And if we trust in Jesus and His death, God gives us His own Spirit to live with and in us as a guarantee of our salvation.
• The Holy Spirit will give us comfort, encouragement, help, wisdom, and everything we need to live like Jesus if we will let Him (believe He can).

Really, Christy?  What kind of a message is that?

I think it’s the one that’s too often missing, or covered up, or tweaked. Consider these thoughts.

Why don’t Christians focus more on the fact that Jesus came to restore our relationship with God instead of telling people that He died to save them from hell? I feel like this misses a huge part of the good news!

Once people trust Jesus as their Savior, why don’t we teach them how to know Him instead of giving them a list of things to stop/start doing? If we are pursuing a relationship with Jesus and allowing Him to work in our life, isn’t His Spirit real enough and strong enough to convict us of our sin and change us from the inside out?

Why don’t we read the Bible because it shows us who God is and what He has done (among other things), and pray because we are sharing our heart with God and enjoying a relationship with Him? How often do our “devos” happen (if they happen) because it’s “right” or because it makes us feel more godly or spiritual?

There are so many problems with Christianity these days, on both sides of the fence. But I think this basic, simple, “nothing new” message is the answer. Because it brings us back to Jesus, the reason behind our “Christianity” in the first place. It confronts us with the fact that the point is knowing God, and Jesus did everything to make that possible.

If Christians put everything else aside, and just believed in these simple truths, and then embraced the fact that we can know God and have the Holy Spirit. If they started pursuing Him, seeking Him, exploring what it means to have the very Spirit of God with us always, wouldn’t God be big enough to teach and show them the truth?

There are too many lies to try and defeat…on both sides, conservative and liberal. But if I can tell people the real, clear gospel, which is all about Jesus, and His desire to restore our relationship. If they believe and embrace this truth, won’t the Spirit of Jesus do the rest?