Confession: I really don’t like to share the gospel. (See my last blog post.) But I know that God wants me to change. His Word is full of time after time after time telling me that I should care about other people’s eternity more than my comfort. Last week, I read this chunk from 2 Corinthians and wrote down some thoughts.

But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere. For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing, to one a fragrance from life to life. Who is sufficient for these things? For we are not, like so many, peddlers of God’s word, but as men of sincerity, as commissioned by God, in the sight of God we speak in Christ. 2 Corinthians 2:14-17

Christ always goes before me: He leads me in triumphal procession. If I approach a stranger or start a conversation with a friend, Christ has moved ahead of me every step.

Spreading knowledge: My job more than any other is to get the information about the gospel out to people. The reality is that so many people just don’t know the truth. My job is simply to tell people what is true. I cannot make them believe.

I am an aroma of Christ: To some, I will be the aroma of death, and they will reject me. They may hate me. But whatever happens to a relationship or my reputation doesn’t change the fact that the gospel is true. These people in their pride and arrogance reject love and forfeit life.

But to some, I will be the aroma of life. There will be some people I share the gospel with who will humble themselves and live as a result. I am a sweet aroma to these people.

Who is sufficient for such things? This rhetorical question’s answer is simple: no one. By myself I am not at all sufficient. But Christ in me is sufficient for all things. His power makes me completely sufficient in my weakness. I have the hope of heaven; the people I talk to don’t. That means I am living for eternity. What happens in any conversation doesn’t really matter. I am going to be in heaven. The person I am talking to is probably hell-bound.

My ambitions are not selfish when I share the gospel, but my ambitions are selfish when I don't: I don’t get anything out of sharing the gospel. When I care about where a person will go when they die, I really love them.

I am sincere: There is nothing in it for me to tell others about Christ, and therefore out of love I tell them what is real.

I am commissioned by God: This should probably be a bigger motivator for me. The one who made the sky blue and the grass green in a single breath is the one who wants to use me to spread what is true around the globe. When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him…or give him a purpose with eternal ramifications?

In the sight of God, I am speaking in Christ: God is watching. I am not just in a crowd of four billion people that God is looking at from a distance. He is watching me intently as I work to advance his kingdom on this earth.

I am speaking in Christ: I use the product I am selling. I am 100 percent convinced of Christ’s cleansing power over sin. I am not selling a $500 blender at the state fair. I am selling a product that I have staked my whole life on. It is true.