Main Teaching Point: the Gospel is the only hope for a dying world - that message is always more important than how it is delivered
Secondary Teaching Point: Am I completely captured by the power of the Gospel
Secondary Teaching Point: churches and believers should feel a burden to ease and end suffering
Main Scripture: Mark 6:30-44
Secondary Scripture: all of it, basically
There are two terms we need to get down before we get started because we are framing the lesson in these terms:
1. The message - the content
2. The platform - the delivery system
There are a lot of ways we get our news today. Via email, websites, podcats, facebook, twitter, newspaper, radio, television, magazines, blogs, vlogs and text message updates. Our parents read the papers, watched the news and listened to the radio. Our grandparents read the papers, listened to the radio and watched the newsreels at the local movie palace. There have been a lot of platforms over the years - public discourse, smoke signals, oral tradition and face to face delivery systems. However the message of the news has not changed much. Oh the names have changed but over the decades we are still dealing with wars, scandal, taxes, unemployment, The Oakland Raiders and other various problems that pop up again once every few years.
In many cases the platform is more important than the message. Not in the case of the church though. Our message is MUCH more important than our platforms. However, that doesn't mean the platform is not important. Growing up in the Disciples of Christ denomination meant having a firm grasp of the different platforms or delivery systems. There were a lot of social justice irons in the church's fire. And I thought it was and is great. However now I see that a crucial element was missing so often. We were never convinced of the power of the message, the power of the Gospel.
Our friends at Dare to Share have really provided a great and complete understanding of the Gospel and have shown how the entire Bible lays it out. And they even patched it all together with a lovely acrostic:
God created us to be with Him - Gen. 1-2
Our sins separate us from God - Gen 3
Sins cannot be removed by good deeds - Gen.4-Malachi 4
Paying the price for our sins, Jesus died and rose from the dead - Matthew-Luke
Everyone who trusts in Jesus alone has eternal life - John
Life with Christ starts now and lasts forever - Acts-Revelation
If you look at that complete outline with the GOSPEL laying it out and the scriptures in support you can see the complete picture. And it is life changing and powerful.
In Mark 6 Jesus finds himself in the midst of an arena full of people. An OKC Thunder game has shown up to be in his presence. His reputation has been spreading and his disciples have just returned from a ministry project. Many are sort of there. Jesus has compassion on them because they were like a sheep without a shepherd. He wasn't worried if they had eaten, had a place to sleep, had some other issue or concern or physical issue. There was a group of people who needed the Gospel. He taught them many things, Mark tells us. After he was done, they feed the crowd with very limited resources.
The message was much more important than the platform. People who focus on the platform focus on the feeding. But Jesus was not focused on a physical feeding. He was concerned with the spiritual condition he was facing in that crowd. He knew the life changing power of the Gospel could change lives.
Don't let the platform become more important than the message, the content. You all know people who are so obsessed with the platform that their lack of content is certainly not compelling. You all know someone whose tweets and updates you skip because you don't care about the trivial usage of the platform. Honestly, do you really care what someone is watching or eating all the time? The platform without a compelling message is a waste of time and energy. But if you have a powerful message, something you believe in your bones and have to share, you will utilize so many different platforms and maybe even link them all together in one cohesive push. We do that all the time to get the word about voting, social justice issues and big events. Why couldn't we do that with the Gospel?
I think it is because we are not completely confident in the power of the Gospel. If we were, we would be using the oldest and still most effective platform to share that message: face to face.
The disciples were believers and loved and followed and listened to Jesus. And they saw Jesus do incredible things in front of them. And then they witnessed the resurrection and suddenly the gospel became the Gospel and their lives changed. And the delivery systems became secondary to the content being delivered. Peter could no longer contain himself. He didn't care if he lived or died or went to jail. He HAD to share the Gospel.
When you and I believe in the Gospel completely, the platforms will present themselves more often. God has already programmed you to have some passions and experiences. He has hard-wired you to care about some sort of injustice or issue. So find out how you can connect the platform of that issue with the message of the Gospel. Then someone dealing with pain and hurt and lacking some basic essential of life can approach it with the hope and grace and peace that comes ONLY in the presence and person of Jesus Christ.
The message is the Gospel. The delivery system is you and me. How can I get the Gospel into every platform I have to share content?
Something that occurred to me was that our platform should become the message, in a way. What we do and the way in which we do it should always lead others back to the gospel. And while I do agree that the gospel has enough power on its own, it can be hard for many people to even listen to the message. "People don't care what you know until they know that you care." In that sense, the platform opens doors in order to share the message and soften people's hearts toward Christ. A Christian may or may not get a "soul saving" reaction just by stopping someone on the street and giving their three minute testimony, but caring for others as Christ did and serving others has a very deep ripple effect.
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