Have you heard “You may be the only bible some people ever read?” It’s true. People watch us. They’re interested to see if there’s anything different and worth pursuing in “the Christian life.” Our lives are on display as Christians and how we live our faith might be the only bible they know. 19th century evangelist Gypsy Smith said it this way: ‘There are five Gospels—Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, and the Christian—but most people never read the first four.’
Is that a scary thought? Being “the fifth gospel” places responsibility on us, not to be perfect, but to be real. It should cause us to ask, “Am I living the life that Jesus called me to live?” It makes me turn to the Psalms and pray like David, “Search my heart O God, and see if there is any evil way in it.”
Can you imagine with me what the world would look like if we actually lived “fifth gospel” lives? What if we lived as if we had encountered the risen Jesus? (We have, if our hearts are surrendered to him!) What if we were actually so convinced the bible were true that we let it rule our every day lives? We start to experience irrational fear or anxiety? Turn to the author of peace. Our minds become filled with doubts? Look to the one who actually is the truth. Feel overwhelmed by the troubles of the world? Go to the one who says, “Come to me all of you who are weary and I will give you rest.” Tempted beyond what you think you can endure? Answer the same way as Jesus did: quote scripture. Not sure if something is right or wrong? Do what Adam failed to do: Say, “Let me check with my Heavenly Father about that.”
Imagine living a life fueled by an unstoppable force that desired to know Jesus and make him known. Bobby Conway, author of “The Fi5th Gospel” imagines a movement of God where Christians have “a renewed passion for living beautifully before a watching world.’ If people are reading our lives, he asks, “Isn’t it time we give the world something worth reading?” Isn’t it time we live lives that respond to Jesus call to go into the world and tell them the good news? Shouldn’t our lives at least look radically different from a lost world? Conway responds:
“In his letter to Rome, Paul writes, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek” (Rom. 1:16). The only ‘real’ lost gospel is the one that remains hidden in the hearts of out-of-commission believers. As believers, Great Commission-living isn’t an option, it’s a commandment. As Jesus said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matt. 28:18-20). These words not only need to soak in, they need to leak out.”
The apostle Paul speaks authoritatively to this:
“You yourselves are our letter of recommendation, written on our hearts, to be known and read by all. And you show that you are a letter from Christ delivered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.” (2 Cor. 3:2-3).
Your life and mine are the stories of what we believe and what’s most important to us. What is your story telling and what kind of message do you want to send? Even in my far from perfect and broken life, I hope there is something that others will see and say, “I want that.” Peace in the middle of a storm, assurance in the face of doubts, calmness where anxiety used to live, love that conquered anger, and compassion that counters apathy.
As Christians, we’re not called to blend in. We’re called to stand out, to be different, not weird, but genuinely sincere. That means what we do matches what we say. Walk the talk. Our lives ought to give others a reason to take a second (or first) look at Jesus, not another reason to ignore or reject him. What does that look like in practical everyday terms?
Stop grumbling. Be satisfied with less. Consider the interests of others greater than your own. Be compassionate. Feed the hungry, clothe the naked, care for the sick, bring clean water to those who are thirsty.
Pick one or several, as God leads you. Put your stake in the ground and determine, “As for me and my house we’re going to live for the Lord!” Live differently. Live the gospel.
“By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:35).