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A Prayer for Revealing the Beauty of the Gospel

     Teach slaves to be subject to their masters in everything, to try to please them, not to talk back to them, and not to steal from them, but to show that they can be fully trusted, so that in every way they will make the teaching about God our Savior attractive. Titus 2:9-10

Gracious Father, this Scripture, like every portion of your Word, makes me so thankful for the riches of your grace. The call to make gospel attractive presupposes there are ways we make it unattractive. How convicting and heartbreaking.

The big “but of course” is that the gospel is attractive all by itself. You’re not calling us to dress it up or “spice it up”; put a bow on it or add anything to it; make it less offensive or more acceptable. We simply must be more careful not to hide its beauty by our foolishness, poor choices, and insensitivity.

Forgive us, Father, when we engage is hearty conversation about you in restaurants, and then woefully under-tip our servers; when we drive like madmen and madwomen on the interstate, with our fish symbols and other Christian “markers” on our cars; when we overindulge in food and beverage and call it “Christian liberty”; when we cop bad attitudes because checkout lines, traffic, and service-people don’t move fast enough for us; when our neighbors hear more gossip than gospel from us. Forgive us, Father, forgive me.

Forgive us, Father, when “outsiders” feel just as unwelcome inside out church buildings as on the outside; when our gatherings as your people, to worship you—even to partake of the Lord’s Supper, “do more harm than good” (1 Corinthians 11:17); when, as followers of Jesus, “we bite and devour one another”(Galatians 5:15) rather than love and serve one another; when our churches compete with one another, publically criticize one another, and do little, if anything, to make our cities better places to live. Forgive us, Father, forgive me.

Show us what it means to do all things in line with the truth of the gospel (Gal. 2:14). We’re not performers, but neither are we free to contradict the gospel, in which we boast and on which we have staked our lives. We’re no longer our own, Father, we belong to you—lock, stock and barrel. May we with gladsome hearts, good attitudes and godly living demonstrate our present and eternal gratitude. May we reveal the true and lasting beauty of grace. So very Amen we pray, in Jesus’ peerless and transforming name.

 


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