The reality is this: broken and sinful people (that is — all people) severely need the gospel. It is the difference between life and death. Either people are left dead in their sins or they are, by God’s grace, made alive in Jesus. Either their desires end them or Jesus performs a heart transplant. Either people perish or they bear fruit. This means that under-shepherds called by God are not suggested to participate in His mission to crush sin in the lives of His people and reconcile all things to himself, but are explicitly commanded to bleed black that mission day in and day out. They are not permitted to feel indifferent about the very poison that infects and kills those God has entrusted to their care. They are not to coddle that which brought death to His son.
It’s as Charles Spurgeon once said,
“If Christ has died for me, I cannot trifle [or turn a blind eye when God’s flock trifles] with the evil that killed my best friend.”
Rather, God’s under-shepherds are to be ferociously heartbroken over the fallenness of this world — laboring unapologetically to preach Jesus, make disciples, plant, and pastor gospel saturated churches for the glory of God and the good of his people.
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