“Now, it’s because of God’s mercy that we have been entrusted with the privilege of this new covenant ministry. And we will not quit or faint with weariness.”
2 Corinthians 4:1 TPT
Over the past few years, entrusted has found its way into my vocabulary and has quickly become one of my favorite words. The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines entrust as “to deliver something in trust to” or “to commit to another with confidence”.
Just as Paul, Peter, James, John, and many others, God has entrusted you and I with the privilege of this new covenant ministry. He has committed it to us with confidence and in trust. And not only, have we ourselves been invited to be partakers of the ministry, but we have been entrusted to carry it forward; inviting others to join in this ministry.
“And God has made all things new, and reconciled us to himself, and given us the ministry of reconciling others to God. In other words, it was through the Anointed One that God was shepherding the world, not even keeping records of their transgressions, and he has entrusted to us the ministry of opening the door of reconciliation to God.”
2 Corinthians 5:18-19 TPT
So what does this look like for you and I? What is the ministry of reconciliation? How can WE open the door of reconciliation to God? That sounds like a pretty tall order, if you ask me.
“We don’t preach ourselves, but rather the Lordship of Jesus Christ, for we are your servants for Jesus’ sake.”
2 Corinthians 4:5 TPT
The Lordship of Jesus Christ. The gospel.
Four years ago, had you stopped me on the street and asked me to share the gospel with you, I would’ve been speechless. It would not have been shock that would have left me without words, but a complete lack of knowledge and understanding. I did not know the gospel. I mean sure, I knew the Christmas story Jesus and that He had died on the cross for the supposed sin of the world, but what did that all matter to me? And had you thrown in the word reconciliation, I would’ve thought that you had changed languages on me.
As I sit here today, and read that I have been entrusted with the privilege of the ministry of reconciliation… I have to think back to the me that you would’ve met four years ago. I was unprepared and quite frankly, unengaged. I thought that being a “Christian” was good enough and that any extra effort that I put into my faith was for my benefit. I was still the center of my life. I would have preached myself much better than any Lordship of Jesus Christ and undoubtedly, I would’ve been much better in leading you in how to “do church” than I would’ve been in leading you to Jesus.
I cannot tell you that I would recite an A+, perfect gospel story if you were to stop me on the street today. I truly don’t know that there is such a thing. But I can tell you that God has transformed my life. I can tell you that the gospel has become personal. I can testify to the way that my life has been given new life through my hope in Jesus Christ. I can tell you that His love is real, His peace is inexplicable, and His joy is sustaining through all things. So though the gospel story I would give you today, may not present as scholarly or scripted, I can guarantee you that it would come from my heart and be surrounded by the truths of His Word.
Where are you today? Fellow believer, you have been entrusted with the message of Jesus Christ; the privilege of the ministry of reconciliation.
If you were stopped on the street today, are you ready to be an ambassador for Christ? Are your feet fitted with readiness that comes from the gospel of peace? (Eph. 6:15) I do not ask these questions with condemnation, but to encourage you to prepare and to help you find excitement in knowing that YOU have been entrusted with a great privilege. So often we feel purposeless in this world, but if you have accepted Jesus as Lord of your life, you are far from purposeless.
I am so thankful to look back over the past four years and see the way that God has equipped me for that which He has entrusted to me, from my career to the many ins and outs of this adventure. But most of all, I look back on the way that He has equipped me with His Word and more specifically, the gospel message.
I could continue to share the way that I see God working in my life on this blog, maintain my weekly encouragement to ‘find a moment of stillness’, and pass on hiking stories for days, but if my posts are void of the gospel; the cross of Christ, they are nearly better off left unsaid.
So today, my hope is to leave you just a little more equipped than you came. Below are some of the scriptures that my mentors walked me through early on in my discipleship and which can now be found engrained in the back of my mind, as we have revisited them with great frequency.
John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
Romans 10:9 “If you declare with you mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and you believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.”
John 3:3 “Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.”
I want to invite you to spend some time with these scriptures. Meditate upon them. Dig deeper with them. Ask God to give you understanding. Ask Him for clarity of His story and to show you how your story so beautifully links together with His. The gospel is personal; it applies to you.
Fellow believers, if you’re reading all of this today, and it’s leaving you with questions, please don’t hesitate to ask them. Ask your pastor, ask the God-fearing men or women in your life, ask me. Study His Word. Find clarity so that you can be the most effective vessel of the gospel message to which we have been called.
If you are reading this today and you have not accepted Jesus as Lord of your life, I want to invite you, too, to spend some time with these scriptures. Ask your questions and allow God to speak to your heart. I’ve been there. I’ve been uninterested and question-less. I’ve been interested and full of questions. I have been exposed to the gospel, yet timid to share. But friend, I write to you today, completely convinced of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Embrace the cross of Christ today; do not wait. Be prepared for that which has been entrusted to you, for it is the privilege of the new covenant ministry.
