Would he? My friend had a dream about this. Jesus was at the gates of Heaven, sporting his Third Day t-shirt. Mac Powell (lead singer of Third Day) walks by and Jesus says, “Oh, hey Mac. Door’s open.” I wonder if he’d get a free t-shirt from Third Day, considering the millions they’ve made singing songs about Him. So, would Jesus wear a Third Day t-shirt? If not, which CCM artist’s t-shirt would he sport?

Here are a few favorites from a recent photo shoot I did in downtown Tallahassee….

By the way, I won’t be taking many more weddings or shoots for 2010, so book now or forever hold your peace!

“But, Jesus the truth is
I’ve struggled so hard to believe…

I need my maker
To cure of my doubting blood
And drain me of the sins I love
And take from me my disbelief
I know it should come easily
But it remains inside of me
It battles and devours me
It cuddles up beside of me
It whispers it convinces me I’m
Right”

The most honest, creative, original, authentic spiritual song I’ve heard in a very long time contains the lyrics quoted above. It’s called “Get Me Right” by Dashboard Confessional. “But they’re not even a Christian band!” I know. “This isn’t a worship album!” I know. “There’s no way you could sing this in church.” You might be right. “So how is it a spiritual song?” Because it’s real. There’s confession of sin. The writer admits his need for a savior. It’s musically creative & original. The lyrics are original. And, basically it says, “I sin. Help.” Sounds familiar.

“I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing.” – Paul (Romans 7:18-19)

Click here to download “Get Me Right” on iTunes.

3. Be the opportunity.

If how you’re living contradicts what you’re saying, no one will believe a word you say. Live the Gospel out. Love people. Show grace to people. And then, your words will mean something. I had coffee recently with a friend who comes from an atheist background. She is so interested in Jesus and what he’s all about. But here’s a problem she had with Christianity: “So many Christians I know say they’re good people, but it is SO obvious they’re not.” Christians are the ones turning her off to Jesus. If we’re not living like Jesus, then we shouldn’t bother sharing Jesus with others, because we’re just a joke. We’ve got to BE the opportunity. We’ve got to be a living example of the Gospel. We’ve got to show grace to others because of the insane amount of grace we’ve been shown. We have the ability to turn this world upside down with the grace of God. We know the answer to the world’s problem. It’s the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We can’t go silent. We can’t make it about anything other than Jesus. And we HAVE to live it out.

2. Create the opportunity.

Have you ever seen the street corner megaphone guy? He’s the one with the signs that state, “Repent or you’re going to hell.” He usually has a megaphone or can yell really loudly. As a college student, I hated that guy. I just knew he was doing so much damage to the Gospel. That is most likely true, but I was judging his splinter, while I had a plank. He was doing something; I was doing nothing. I was so afraid of being offensive, awkward, or just wrong, that I didn’t even talk about Jesus at all. No one knew of all the great things God had done in my life…how he was changing me, blessing me, and guiding me.

While preparing for the opportunity to share the good news with others, we’ve got to create opportunities to share the good news. Christ should be so enveloped in our thoughts that we are just waiting for the chance to bring him up (this happens by making step 1 a priority in your life). If we don’t create opportunities, or even be open to opportunities, then they will never happen. Opportunities can be as small as going to lunch with a co-worker, or as big as assisting with social action/justice. It doesn’t matter as much what you do, just that you do it. God will bless your willingness.

I end on a note that I regret (I forgot) not sharing during my message last week: If all of your friends are sitting in your church on Sunday mornings, then there is a massive problem. We have to get outside our small, church bubble. We have to befriend our neighbors, co-workers, classmates, roommates,  or anyone  else we come in contact with on a daily basis. If not, we’re missing an easy opportunity to share Christ.

My last 3 blogs have stated 3 ways we distort the Gospel. Now, for the solution. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is good news. And sharing that good news is our duty. If we are a Christ follower, and we are NOT sharing Jesus with our friends, family, coworkers, classmates, and neighbors; then we are in sin. And we have to make sure we are not distorting the Gospel. We have to make it simply about Jesus.

1. Prepare for the opportunity.

How can we be passionate about sharing the Gospel if we are not passionate ABOUT the Gospel? How can we teach someone about the Gospel if we don’t KNOW the Gospel? How can we believe the Gospel if we never read the Gospel? I firmly believe this: the single most obvious reason why we don’t feel God, or we fall away from God, or we don’t really care about living like Christ, is because we don’t read Scripture. The times in my life where I was just living in sin – living a complacent, lukewarm Christian-looking lifestyle, the Bible was just another dusty book on my shelf.  You have to get some good theology under your belt. You have to read Scripture to learn. You have to have answers to questions. Fill your heart and mind with the things of God, then you’ll be ready to share the good news.

An atheist friend recently emailed me this question: “Why are you a Christian?” I didn’t have an immediate response (talk about conviction). It took me a couple hours to come up with a legitimate reason (which ended up being 5 reasons – maybe my next blog series). But, how sad is it that I had not yet nailed down a legitimate reason for following Christ? Yes, it is because I believe He’s God and died for my forgiveness. Yes, He has completely changed my life. But, I think people want to know more. So, we need to develop an answer to that question. Write down what God has done in your life. Write down why you follow Jesus. Paul tells Timothy this: be prepared in season and out of season. We MUST prepare for the opportunity to share the Gospel.

3. When we make it a private issue.

This is probably the most dangerous missed opportunity for us. We make it a private issue. We simply hide it. We just don’t share the Gospel with anyone. And, I’ve heard, well, I’m not an evangelist…that’s not my thing. My faith is kind of a private issue. My response to them is this: Jesus hung naked, bleeding, and dying on a cross for our sin PUBLICLY.  Staying private is not an option. If that requires that you step out of your comfort zone, then so be it. If it requires you feeling completely awkward, then so be it. When I stand before God, and God says, “Lance, you knew me. But, most of your friends are in hell. What’s that about?”, what will be my excuse? I didn’t want to feel socially awkward? That’s not an excuse. It is a selfish view of the Gospel. If Jesus Christ has changed your life, if He’s done a good work in you…you have to share it with people. You should WANT to!

I used a clip from a youtube video posted by Penn Jillette (of Penn & Teller). Penn Jillette is an open atheist. But, I think every Christian should hear what he has to say. Here’s the link (embedding was disabled): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7JHS8adO3hM.

I love great covers. But, I don’t like covers that attempt to sound exactly like the original (much like many church bands). Here are 3 great covers that capture the original’s greatness, but perform it in a new, creative way:

Paper Planes (M.I.A.) – covered by The Da Vincis

The Da Vincis cover M.I.A.’s “Paper Planes” in their own personal style – Electro / Lounge / Pop. Honestly, the song made me laugh at first. You really have to hear it to believe it.

The Funeral (Band of Horses)- covered by Serena Ryder & The Beauties

Serena Ryder covers this song with its original “indie” sound, but adds her incredible soulful vocals into the mix, along with some horns. Probably my favorite of the 3.

Where is My Mind? (Pixies) – Emmy the Great

This is a very refreshing cover of the 1988 song by the Pixies, “Where is My Mind?” Emmy the Great with it’s folk style and faster tempo. Great cover.

Click the links above to check out the songs on YouTube.

2. When we make it something it’s not.

When we make the “Gospel” about anything but Jesus, we miss an opportunity to share the true Gospel. Sometimes we make it about something good, or even godly. But, if it is not simply Jesus, it’s not the Gospel. Two instances:

Social Action. Social action is SO important. Stephanie and I have such a passion for helping to combat human trafficking, and one day hope to be a part of something that helps those who have been victims of sex slavery. But, we can NEVER leave Jesus out of the equation. Because, we can save people from hell on earth, but if we don’t share the Gospel of Jesus with them, they will die and go to an eternal hell. We can’t have social action without Jesus.

Morality. Christians fight to the death for morality & politics. We boycott Wal Mart and Disney and tell people we’re moving to Canada if a certain candidate gets elected because we disagree with his social views. In the meantime, since we’re not doing anything out of love, we start developing a reputation with the world. A reputation like: judgmental, hypocritical, hateful, ignorant. And the problem with making the Gospel about morality is that the second we screw up (and we will screw up), our testimony is ruined. We lose all credibility. And we forget about the grace that is the gospel of Jesus. We leave Jesus out of it.

This past Sunday, I spoke for the first time at Genesis Church. I’ve spoken many times at the youth and college services, but never on Sunday morning. It was a great experience, both nerve-racking and exciting. My message was about sharing the message of Christ with those we encounter in every-day life. A lot of times, we miss that opportunity because we distort the true gospel, which is simply: Jesus. Over the next 4 blog posts, I’m going to post some of my notes from the message and maybe a little extra content. The first 3 will be 3 ways we distort the gospel, and the last blog will be the solution. Here goes…

1. We Make It About Ourselves

You may have heard of the prosperity gospel. It’s basically this: “If you give your life to Jesus, if you truly follow him, then God desires for you, prosperity in your finances, your relationships, and your health.” I’ve heard one prosperity preacher go as far to say that God wants you to drive a Lexus. That’s not necessarily true. Let’s just compare that gospel with Jesus. Was he born into a rich family or poor family? Did he have any strained relationships? Did he ever suffer pain? Just the answers to these questions alone would make anyone reconsider the “prosperity gospel” as a real gospel at all. It is not about God giving us what we want, it’s about us sacrificing all of ourselves for Him.

Prosperity Gospel tells us that ultimate happiness comes from the same place that our culture tells us it comes from – health and wealth. And this so-called gospel makes it all about US. It’s all about ME! And it leaves out one very important factor of the gospel: Jesus.

Hopefully you don’t believe in the prosperity gospel (or “ME” gospel), but how many times do we walk into church on Sunday mornings, expecting God to do something for us. We base how good our church experience was on whether the band sounded good, the video was cool, and the message was right on. Do we ever walk in church ever expecting to bless God through our worship and for God to change our hearts through the message so that we can walk out the church doors and not be ashamed to spread the Gospel? Because when it’s all about US, it can’t be all about Jesus, and we miss the opportunity to share the Gospel.