2026.06.07 | I Know the Gospel. I Just Don't Talk About It Much Anymore.

I've known the gospel for most of my life.

I believe it. I'm grateful for it. I think about it often enough.

I just don't bring it up much anymore.

At some point I think I decided that my life was the witness. That people could see something different in me and ask about it if they wanted. That I shouldn't push. That it's not my job to convert anyone. All of those things that sound reasonable and feel comfortable.

Acts 17 made me sit with that.

Paul and his team arrived in Thessalonica and reasoned from the scriptures for three weeks. Not passively. Not waiting for people to ask. Explaining. Proving. Proclaiming. Christ crucified. Christ risen. In the synagogue. To whoever would listen.

Some believed. A mob formed. Paul left in the middle of the night.

He arrived in Berea. Went straight to the synagogue. Did it again.

Jeff said the Bereans moved from 120 followers in Acts 1 to tens of thousands across multiple countries in 30 years - not because of programs or buildings, but because people kept sharing the message everywhere they went. Every time. No matter what happened the last time.

I've been treating the gospel like something I received and now hold. Acts treats it like something you received and keep passing on.

Jeff closed with three simple questions. Where do you live? The gospel is needed there. Who do you see? The gospel is needed there. Point in a direction. The gospel is needed there.

And I sat there thinking about specific people.

My neighbor down the street who lost his job six months ago and has been quieter ever since. We wave. We talk about the weather. I've never once brought up Jesus.

The coworker who asked me last year why I seem so calm under pressure. I said something vague about my faith and moved on. She hasn't asked again. I never went back to it.

My friend who's been going through a rough patch in his marriage. He came to church once with us two years ago. I never followed up. Never asked what he thought. Just assumed it wasn't the right time.

It's always not the right time when I'm comfortable.

Jeff used an illustration that I keep coming back to. The man selling oranges didn't argue. He didn't give a presentation. He just cut the orange and said: taste. He had a good product and trusted it to speak for itself.

I know the gospel is a good product. I've tasted it. It changed my life. But somewhere along the way I stopped offering it to the people right in front of me.

Paul never stopped. Rejected in Thessalonica. Shipped off in the middle of the night. Arrived in Berea and walked straight into the synagogue. Same message. Same method. No hesitation.

I've let one awkward conversation keep me quiet for years.

That's not Acts. That's comfort.