The gospel of Jesus is good news to everyone–no matter where, when or how they live.

That’s why it’s always been so important for Dallas Baptist Association churches to communicate that good news to friends and neighbors around them. 

 The book Gospel Fluency by Jeff Vanderstelt helped a recent group of DBA pastors and leaders examine our usual ways of understanding and talking about the gospel. But we began in the unusual place of recognizing that we are all “unbelievers,” not believing or trusting God in some areas of our lives. How much better our lives would be, though, if we did. Following Jesus leads to goodness in every area of our life! This perspective helps us talk about the gospel to others.  “We become like what we believe in,”  says Vanderstelt. “Therefore,” he says, we seek to be “moving from unbelief in Jesus to belief in Him in the everyday stuff of life.”  We are reminded to keep our focus on Jesus–not our advice, not our church, not even Bible study or prayer times, except in how these point us toward Jesus.  It is this clarity of focus and practice that helps people discover the goodness of Jesus in the gospel.

With this broadened awareness, we can seek to become more natural and fluent in the way we talk about him.  Too often we can speak in “gospelish” ways or preach “gospel snippets” and slogans that don’t help people connect the disjointed pieces to the whole story of God and salvation in the Bible.  

Vanderstedlt helps us see the recurring theme of creation, fall, redemption and new creation throughout scripture.  Not only is this God’s big story, it is our story, as well.  We can help others discover where they are in their own story–what are beautiful ways God created them? how is unbelief in Jesus causing deep damage to that? and, how might the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus bring them into wholeness in many areas of life, including, eventually, heaven? 

As we focus more on the multifaceted ways Jesus’s sacrifice frees us, we will naturally talk about Him more and in more everyday, accessible ways. Growing in “gospel fluency,” we gain handles in understanding and talking about the gospel’s impact on our everyday lives.  For instance, we can pay attention to what is overflowing from our hearts. What is the “fruit”?  If desire for control, fear, anxiety or worry are typical of our lives, we might want to examine what is at the “root” of those fruits. We’ll soon discover that there are false things we are believing about God; perhaps that He is unloving, impotent, or absent, and therefore  we are on our own to fix things. Whereas a heart fixed on belief in Jesus will naturally overflow with fruits like peace, joy, love and hope.

Because of this, Jesus and His work are central to any testimony we give.  Jesus is the “hero” of our story–not anything we or a friend did, and not even our church or a pastor.

The book closes with great guidance on sharing this gospel fluently with our friends and neighbors. Perhaps counterintuitively, we begin by listening deeply instead of speaking.  If we understand in ourselves the “fruit” and “root” issues mentioned above, we can  listen better to our friends and ask the Spirit to help us discern what root issues might exist for them.  “If we don’t listen,” Vandersteldt suggests, “we tend to share the good news of Jesus in a way that applies primarily to our lives,” not theirs.  We are encouraged to slow down, quiet our souls, ask good questions, and listen.  As we listen to our friend, we are also “listening up.” We listen to God as He might suggest ways that Jesus might be good news in their life and context. 

Finally, we are reminded that our  words are only meaningful if they are proven true by our life and actions. We are called to both declare and display how good life can be when Jesus is King. That display is definitely more convincing than our declarations.

This only scratches the surface of Gospel Fluency‘s depth.  Would you like to explore some of these- directions in an upcoming group?  Send an email or text with simply the words “Gospel Fluency” to 214-810-6224 or [email protected] and we’ll get more info to you.