Experience the Raw Power

For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone

who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is

revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, "The just shall live by faith."

Romans 1:16-17

Okay, so imagine that a huge monster truck pulls up to your house and the driver hops out and hands you

the keys. You can go anywhere you want (within reason) and this thing will handle just about any terrain

out there. Rocks, check. Mud, check. Ocean, why not? Let’s drive Everest, I hear it’s a terrible time of the

year to do it. Drive wherever you please and it won’t let you down.

So you take the truck out and you drive like a mad man (or woman) and just tear it all up, you’re having

such a blast. This thing has power for days and it just eats up whatever the planet seems to dish out. You

get to do all that awesomeness and bring it back home…but you’re totally embarrassed of your new rig.

It’s fantastic but you, you’re just trying to hide the thing the best you can because you just don’t like paint

job. The color’s just a bit off from where you’d like it, but despite its prowess, you’re a bit ashamed.

This should sound silly to you, preposterous at minimum. Why would I be embarrassed of something

that’s so great everyone should get one? Yeah…you see, that’s the Gospel. It comes veiled in weakness,

has plenty of critics, but it is a beast incomparable to anything and it’s the only vehicle by which you’re

driving to Heaven. You take your eyes away from this mechanical marvel and you might just get

overwhelmed by the boo’s from some of the “haters.” You listen to your doubts and you might just shut

her down.

Paul says, I’m not ashamed. This word refers to experiencing a loss of status because of one’s

association. Paul is not ashamed of the Gospel because it is the power, the dunamis, of God. Dunamis is

the Greek word from which we derive the English word “dynamite.” How do we know the power of

dynamite? Not because of the claims, but because of the violent explosions and the mass amount of

earth (or whatever) that it can move in an instant. The power of the Gospel is such that it will get ahold of

a person and never leave them the way it found them. It’s that power to the Jew first and also to the

Greek. It can change a child in the heart of an American city and it can radically alter a village deep in

Africa. It upends the life (in a good way) of every person who believes it, who places their faith on Jesus.

In this vehicle of the Gospel, the righteousness, the rightness, of God is revealed as seen in a long line of

the faith of believers. How are they made alive? By faith in this powerful, life-changing Gospel. Do not put

your faith in the messenger, their skill at communication and their slick sales pitch. That’s not the power of

the Gospel. Skinny jeans won’t do it either, folks. The power of the Gospel is the fact that the Bible itself is

living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, a mighty force in the hands of the God who

spoke it. Bravery doesn’t come from being confident in ourselves so much as it comes in being firm that

this Gospel can work and will work wherever and whenever God so wishes as we put it forth. He doesn’t

need us to do it but that’s how He chose to send it forth. Grab the keys, it’s time to drive! Be braver than lions.

Sam Stringer

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by

permission. All rights reserved.