What the Gospel Looks Like

There is no shortage of fear-producing material that is available online and through the media, and if we're not careful, we can be blinded and paralyzed by fear. But God calls us to respond in faith and place our hope in Christ. In Romans 15, we can read this:
13 Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
14 Now I myself am confident concerning you, my brethren, that you also are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, able also to admonish one another.

It is our hope in Christ and faith in the Word of God that can lift us up and free us when we are weighed down by the concerns of this world.  In Mark 4, in the parable of the sower, Jesus teaches us that the cares of this world will make the Word unfruitful.  So, we have the daily choice to be consumed by cares or consecrated to Christ.  And, if we are surrendered to Him, we can experience incredible joy and can display to a world that is burdened the love and power of a Savior who saves and sets free.

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The Bible shows us again and again that we can have hope in the Lord, even in our despair, and those who draw near to God in humility can experience the power of His presence. Psalm 34 states:
17 The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears, And delivers them out of all their troubles.
18 The Lord is near to those who have a broken heart, And saves such as have a contrite spirit.
19 Many are the afflictions of the righteous, But the Lord delivers him out of them all.
20 He guards all his bones; Not one of them is broken.

The continued war in Ukraine and the attempts by Russia to subvert this nation, which was once part of the Soviet Union, have become worldwide issues of concern and have presented opportunities for the gospel.  There was a piece I came across at the Christian Today website by someone who has worked in the Ukraine for the past 28 years, the last eight of which he has described as "war."

His name is Wayne Zschech, and he is the Fields Leader for Operation Mobilisation in Ukraine, who writes:

Along with planting churches and other projects, we have been actively involved in the birth of the now officially recognised chaplaincy programmes - programmes for those affected by the ongoing war over the last eight years. This ministry to the war-affected was literally established while under artillery and mortar fire. But now? Now we are providing food and shelter for thousands of people fleeing their homes. Families fleeing cities under siege.

When he first arrived, he found the Ukrainian people, who had become an independent country just a year and a half earlier, were "people used to being abandoned, used to being in dire straits."  He says that over the last 100 years...

"After years of abuse and instability there was a deep-rooted fatalistic mentality. The attitude was pretty much summed up as 'we're all going to die anyway so what's the point?'. There was no faith or pride in the community. Don't stick out, don't take risks.

I found myself pastoring a church with an unemployment rate of nearly 100 per cent within the congregation. No stability. No income. No hope. People were feeding themselves from the potatoes they grew in their garden, with no money to pay for heating when winter came.

But, things changed - the people entrusted to him began to experience the love of Jesus, and they began to experience economic self-sufficiency, growing food and providing employment.  But, in 2014, with what he describes as the coming of war to the nation, things changed.  The pastor relates:

The "Revolution of Dignity" of 2014 was a major catalyst of change in the minds and hearts of the Ukrainian people. It was like the embodiment of rebirth of the modern Ukrainian nation. The country began to have a sense of pride, a pride that hadn't been in evidence for decades. People weren't afraid of being punished any more. They were willing to stand up for their freedom.

And, the receptivity to the gospel waned. But, as before, the church asked the question: "OK Lord, what does the gospel look like...?"  Zschech says:

War arrived and we asked the same question. The answer wasn't long in coming. There is desperate need all around us. People who have lost everything. People are being confronted with death and separation every day. Heaven is never far from their minds, and it is never far from our hands or our lips. We are doing everything we can to provide for their physical needs and we are holding out the hope of the gospel even as we cling to it ourselves.

One principle that we can embrace is that out of despair, there is hope in the Lord.  According to Mission Network News, that is what Kent and Inga Friesen of TeachBeyond are communicating in their ministry to Ukrainian children.  The MNN report states:

Before the war, students would tell Inga, “‘God isn’t real; I don’t need God, I don’t believe in God.’ I’ve always told students that you need God; God is good, and we can’t live without Him. We can’t process things without Him,” she says.

Today, those students want the peace they see in Kent and Inga. “Even though they don’t believe in God, they still call me to say, ‘Can we pray? Can you tell us more?’” Inga says.

This is yet another example of God's hope that is available in despair - the hope that is available to each of us in our desperate times.  The hope that can cause us to reach out for the hand of Christ, take a step out in faith, and allow Him to lead us by His Holy Spirit.  

Sometimes people can become so self-reliant that they don't admit their need for God. We can perhaps rely on the Lord for things we don't think we are capable of accomplishing.  But, that is only partial surrender - God wants our whole heart, and if we demonstrate that wholehearted desire for Him, we can experience the fulness of His love and joy.  

In following the call of God to do ministry, we can ask that question that Wayne Zschech posed: "what does the gospel look like?"  Where there is despair, in the midst of deep need, we can follow the direction of the Savior, who showed His love for us by dying on a cross, who recognized our need for redemption and did what it took in order to bring us into a right relationship with God.  The gospel points people to a loving Savior, who shows up even in our darkest moments.