Our Need for the Gospel

By Greg Laurie, Op-ed contributor Friday, December 19, 2008

I passed on to you what was most important and what had also been passed on to me—that Christ died for our sins, just as the Scriptures said. — 1 Corinthians 15:3

Some of the hardest people to reach are those who are satisfied in life. They are the people who may not see their real spiritual condition because they have everything in order.

That is why I think it is a mistake, when we share the gospel, merely to appeal to unhappy, lonely, empty individuals. Not everyone is unhappy, empty, and lonely at every given moment.

There are some people who will have bursts of happiness. Their life will be going well. Then we come along and say, "Jesus can help you to be happy."

"Well," they say, "I'm already happy."

"Oh, well, Jesus can take away your emptiness."

"I don't really feel any emptiness."

"You don't?"

"No."

"Well, then never mind."

Wait a minute! There's a little more at stake here than mere happiness.

Don't misunderstand me. I'm not saying there are not unhappy, empty, lonely people. But not every single person is dissatisfied with their life.

So we must go beyond this mere message and go to the deepest need of all. That is the need for the forgiveness of sins. Jesus did not die on the cross to make us happy. He died to save us from sin and death. The need for salvation and eternal life is true of every person at every moment in time.

The thing to remember is that there is no person, regardless of fame or power, who is beyond the need of the gospel message.

Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.

Used with Permission