What should we talk about?

What is our message to the world? There are lots of things we could say, but saying them may mean that people don't hear the message God wants us to speak to them. We know that there are many things wrong with our society even as there were many things wrong in the society of the first century into which the apostles went with the message God wanted them to declare.

It is obvious from the Book of Acts that one element of their message was the resurrection of Jesus. The fact that it occurred has consequences for everyone because it means that he will yet be the Judge of all, as Paul made clear when addressing his listeners at the Areopagus in Athens. What else did the resurrection of Jesus mean for Paul? It meant that he could declare the existence of a living Saviour who had defeated death.

Another element of the message conveyed by those early servants of Jesus was their emphasis on the cross as the place where he suffered in the place of sinners. Why did he do so? One answer to that question is that he did so because of the Father's love, as John 3:16 makes very clear. Yet Jesus also did so because of his own love for sinners, as Paul mentions when he says that Jesus loved the church and gave himself for her. So they declared the existence of a loving Saviour, one who was willing to suffer the agonies of the cross because of his love for sinners. The existence of a loving Saviour raises the issue as to how the message about him should be declared. Surely it should be announced by those who have a strong love for the loving Saviour.

A third feature of their message was that Jesus had the power to set people free from the grip of sin. This release flows from the fact that Jesus gives a new heart to sinners and they discover that they have been changed, that they have become new creations. This means that they declared a liberating Saviour, one who renewed them by giving new life to them and changed them into individuals whose lives were marked by the fruit of the Spirit who works powerfully in them.

The fourth detail of their message concerns the faithfulness of Jesus to those who trust in him. What might be regarded as unusual in this regard is that he was faithful often to those who were not devoted to him. Most of the apostles came into that category Yet they had discovered that Jesus remained faithful to him and they were able to mention in their messages that he was a loyal Saviour.

One way of saying the above is to say that their message was about Jesus, even when mentioning different things about him. This must still be our message, that we speak to others about Jesus and his activities. We can do this when speaking to believers or when interacting with others. Our responsibility is to ensure that we tell them about Jesus, because if we say something else, what have they heard? They will not have heard about the living, loving, liberating and loyal Saviour.