Living with The Gospel Effect

 The Gospel message about the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ is just as important now as it was two-thousand years ago.  During this time of uncertainty in the world, I have learned a couple of things.  First, people need each other.  No matter how technologically advanced we get, we still have a deep desire to be in relationship  with others.  I have also noticed that trials and difficult times really do build character, and can also be redeemed by God for our spiritual growth.  Keeping both of these things in mind, the idea of the 'Gospel Effect' (the notion of the work that Jesus does in our hearts and minds) has become paramount.  

When I was younger, I worked countless part time jobs.  I started working in a grocery store when I was fourteen, and I've been working ever since.  As such, I've had the opportunity to work with a variety of people and personality types over the years.  I will never forget one young man in particular.  Bill and I worked together at a video store.  Week after week, we shared time in the trenches together, helping hundreds of people rent movies (you wouldn't believe how crowded those little stores would get on the weekends).  I remember him as being very secular-minded, and constantly on the go.  No time for church, but rather, it was on to this tournament or that event.  He was always busy; always moving.

I had lost track of Bill over the years, until one day I saw him at a local supermarket buying groceries.  We were both adults at this point.  We were a little older, and maybe a little wiser.  We talked for about half an hour.  He spoke about teaching an Alpha class, which is a series of Christian seminars typically hosted by churches.  Bill spoke also about the love of Jesus Christ, and the effect it had on him.  I could hardly believe my ears.  Not because he wasn't worthy of a Godly life, but because it was a night and day difference.  If you had placed the Bill of today in a room with the Bill of twenty years ago ... there would be two very different portraits.  The Gospel had changed him.  God had redeemed his soul and transformed his heart.

So, I want to talk about a particular story relating to transformed hearts.  It is often known as the Parable of the Leaven.  This teaching from Jesus occurs both in the book of Matthew and the book of Luke.  It is very short, but as you can probably guess, also very profound.  Matthew 13:33 says, "The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into about sixty pounds of flour until it worked all through the dough."

From this concept, I believe we can take away two points in particular.  First, much like leaven (or yeast), the kingdom of heaven can take some time to develop and mature.  We ought not apply today's fast paced, technology driven lifestyle to the Gospel Effect.  Not always anyway.  When the Spirit of God begins a work in us, it often starts slowly and might be barely noticeable at first.  Maybe my friend Bill was aware of how God was changing his heart over time, but maybe not.  Most certainly his wife noticed, not to mention the change I saw in him that day at the store.  

Second, I believe we can take from this teaching that the kingdom of heaven starts from the inside and works its way outward.  Like leaven that permeates through an entire package of dough, Jesus begins working inside of a person's heart and mind.  The changes are often not obvious from other people's perspective, until the overflow of God's love begins to come out of that individual through the words they speak and the things they do.  At the end of that twenty-year time period, Bill's born again heart was very prevalent to me.  God had started a work in him years ago, and now he was teaching Christian classes himself!  Leaven may start small, but the end result is irrefutable.  

We are sometimes impatient with God, aren't we?  Instead of waiting for the dough to rise, we might decide that a trip to the fast-food restaurant is a better idea.  We drive up to the window, hand our money to the employee, and off we go with a bag full of junk food.  Quick, easy, and also not very good for us.  

By contrast, if we wait on God and allow the leaven time to work through the dough, the end result is impressive (and much better for us than spiritual junk food).  It goes without saying then, that God probably has to wait on us a good portion of the time also.  The Bible says He is infinitely patient with Israel, and with us as well.  And if we stop to think about things for just a moment, we can see how true this is.  How many times have you and I failed to meet God's holy law?  More than a few times I would suspect.  If you disagree, stop reading this immediately and turn to the ten commandments in the Old Testament.  Go down the list with each one, and apply it to your own life.  Humbling, isn't it?

Little doubt that God is the very embodiment of patience and love.  I often see this truth wherever I look.  My advice is this: allow God's Holy Spirit to make little in-roads into your life.  Give this Gospel Effect time to take hold, and work in you from the inside out.  Who cares if other people around you notice a change immediately or not.  Your sanctification walk is between you and the Creator.  Revel in that intimate time together with God; Jesus died on the cross so that you could have it.  So don't waste it.  

Sooner or later, those around you will notice the end result.  You will have your own supermarket meeting epiphany, just like Bill and I.  

 

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