Gospel is a verb

‘Gospel’ is not only a noun. When we think of ‘gospel’ most people think of a message. The message is clear. Get out of hell and get into heaven. The ‘gospel’ is a list of truths to assent to. It is that you believe you are a sinner that deserves hell, that the Son of God, Jesus, died for you, and that, if you believe in him, you can go to heaven instead of hell after you die.

This is true. Gospel is sometimes a noun. When I read Luke, however, there is a problem: for Luke, gospel is never a noun. It is a verb. That may seem a little language-nerdy to you, but it means something very profound. Gospel is an action.

People ‘gospel’ other people in various ways. A gospeller can gospel the poor by making sure they are fed and warm. A gospeller can preach. A gospeller can make a good joke and brighten someone’s day.

This is largely important: The gospel isn’t only something we believe, it is something we are and something we do. We gospel people. We gospel people when we are good news to them. We gospel people when a person is better off for having known us. We gospel a party by making it more fun. We gospel a neighborhood by making it a better place to live. We gospel a person by making their life better in any small way. Jesus proclaimed the gospel, but he was also a master gospeller.

I want to be a gospeller. I want to make people’s lives better. I want to be good news to the people that meet me. Be a gospeller. Be good news to everyone you meet.