“Keep It Short; Keep It Powerful”

Thursday, August 04, 2016

The early-1900’s President, Woodrow Wilson, was praised in his day for making short speeches on the floor of Congress. And yet, they were still full of powerful ideas and solid leadership.

A friend asked him, “How long does it take you to prepare one of your speeches?” President Wilson—who did write his own speeches—responded: “That depends on the length of the speech. If it is a ten-minute speech it takes me all of two weeks to prepare it; if it is a half-hour speech it takes me a week; if I can talk as long as I want… I am ready now.”

When studying the gospels, it has often struck me as odd that all the writers seem so economical in their accounts of the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ. In his whole 28 chapters, Matthew devotes just half of ch. 27 and half of ch. 28 to the greatest events in human history. Luke—who writes the longest account of Jesus’ life—gives less than 45 verses to the whole ordeal from crucifixion to resurrection. And even of the cross itself, in Luke 23:33, he only says, “they crucified him.”

And yet, although it might seem as though they have sort of glossed over the most powerful and important events in history, the rest of the New Testament plainly shows that they haven’t! Because the rest of the New Testament is based primarily on these succinctly recorded events. All faith, all hope, and all the best kinds of love… All of them are based in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Those three short days are God’s short, but powerful speech—they are the Gospel—the good news of Jesus Christ. And in spite of its brevity, that Gospel’s power comes largely down to the length of time it took to prepare. Just as a great, short speech will often take LOTS of preparation work and time, God’s brief execution of the Good News that can save all mankind took over two millennia to prepare.

For more than two thousand years, God moved with relentless determination toward one terminal event. He moved mountains and shook nations to make this one event happen…

…at just the perfect time.
…in just the perfect place.
…among just the perfect people.
…and with just the perfect results.

You can’t help but be impressed by the fact that God’s Gospel—for all of its eternal and universal scale—is an essentially simple and succinct idea accessible to everyone. That Jesus Christ—the son of God—came to earth in the flesh, lived a life free from sin, died as a sacrifice to atone for your sin, and was raised to defeat death forever for you. And he offers you eternal life with God in Heaven.

Do you want that?

There is more good news that he offers the way to receive it. And, like the Gospel itself, it’s a simple and succinct transaction: the act of baptism.

The time required to be baptized is very little, and the spectacle may seem underwhelming to many. But with the proper preparation done—with the heart softened by the good news of Jesus—baptism is the most powerful transaction for a person with faith in God.

Do you want to do that? Contact us, and we'll be glad to baptize you into Christ and share our walk of discipleship with you!

- Dan Lankford, minister

Share