April 9, 2009 2 Corinthians 4:1-6

Preaching the Good News
God, with his mercy, gave us this work to do, so we don't give up. But we have turned away from secret and shameful ways. We use no trickery, and we do not change the teaching of God. We teach the truth plainly, showing everyone who we are. Then they can know in their hearts what kind of people we are in God's sight. If the Good News that we preach is hidden, it is hidden only to those who are lost. The devil who rules this world has blinded the minds of those who do not believe. They cannot see the light of the Good News--the Good News about the glory of Christ, who is exactly like God. We do not preach about ourselves, but we preach that Jesus Christ is the Lord and that we are your servants for Jesus. God once said, "Let the light shine out of the darkness!" This is the same God who made his light shine in our hearts by letting us know the glory of God that is in the face of Christ. ~2 Corinthians 4:1-6~

To continue with the message of being messengers of God, Paul is talking about what we preach. When we go about telling the gospel, we need not to hide it, we need not to cover it up...it just needs to be told as it is. No sugar coating, nothing! Paul says that many Christians get discouraged...want to stop/leave/hide...they want to quit! Then he says that this doesn't happen to him, because he only goes by the truth. Many spiritual leaders want to sugar coat things, want to bribe people to come to church...they make church/God seem fun, exciting, and etc., but that's not how it should be taught/told. Eventually, you run out of ideas to keep it fun/exciting...the focus is not God, but how amusing it is...then that wears people down...tears away the desire to go/learn...discouragement! That's where it comes from!

I remember the beginning of last semester...I heard people talk about how they can get people to come to Cornerstone, or how they can get people to stay...how they can get people to come to bible study by making fun activities, or candy or cookies or etc. According to Paul...and the Bible...those are not the things we should be doing with the intent of bribing people to come/stay. It should be solely the Bible, the message, God, that makes us wanna come and wanna keep coming!

Continuuing with the passage...Paul says that people fall away not because they don't believe and that causes the devil to prey on them, but because the devil causes evil in one's heart, that causes that person to stop believing. Furthermore, when we preach/tell the Good News, we need not to sell ourselves, but to preach about God. The one who created all things, the one who said, "Let there be light."