Who is qualified to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ? Can any John Doe do it? Or does it have to be someone authorized by a church or some related institution? The short answer is that any John Doe can do it. That includes you and me.
Back in the 1st century, when there was one true church, the apostles sent by Jesus were the authorized spokesmen for the gospel. But since the second coming of Christ took place right on schedule late in that century, the kingdom of God has reigned. Thus, kingdom rules apply.
Let me explain what I mean by taking you back to something Jesus said when he was praising John the Baptist to the people of their generation.
Luke 7:24 When the messengers of John had left, He began to speak to the crowds about John, “What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind?
Luke 7:25 “But what did you go out to see? A man dressed in soft clothing? Those who are splendidly clothed and live in luxury are found in royal palaces!
Luke 7:26 “But what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I say to you, and one who is more than a prophet.
Luke 7:27 “This is the one about whom it is written,
‘BEHOLD, I SEND MY MESSENGER AHEAD OF YOU,
WHO WILL PREPARE YOUR WAY BEFORE YOU.’
Luke 7:28 “I say to you, among those born of women there is no one greater than John; yet he who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.” [There is a parallel account of this passage in Matthew 11:7-11.]
The kingdom of God is here and now, and the worst you can do is be the least in it. Even then, says Jesus, you have more authorization to preach Jesus than did John the Baptist!
Centuries before John the Baptist and Jesus, Jeremiah had prophesied of this level playing field God was going to provide for humans to exchange information about their Lord.
Jer 31:31 “Behold, days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah,
Jer 31:32 not like the covenant which I made with their fathers in the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, although I was a husband to them,” declares the LORD.
Jer 31:33 “But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days,” declares the LORD, “I will put My law within them and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.
Jer 31:34 “They will not teach again, each man his neighbor and each man his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them,” declares the LORD, “for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.” [This Old Testament passage is quoted in the New Testament book of Hebrews 8:8-12.]
Clearly, God thinks I have the right to preach His gospel even though I am a John Doe. And surely there is no one more least in the kingdom of God than me.
1 Tim 1:15 It is a trustworthy statement, deserving full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, among whom I am foremost of all.
Related essays:
The Holy Spirit Is for Everyone (3 min)
Church Is Obsolete…but Jesus, the Bible, and Family Are Not (5 min)
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