The Last Days: The Gospel Made Simple
Walt Bennett
Walt Bennett is the Executive Director for Organic Outreach International. Walt shares teaching and coaching responsibilities with Kevin and Sherry as well as overseeing all of our day-to-day operations including content and systems development, and church and international partnerships. Walt is located in the Houston, Texas area and leads that hub of our operations in addition to his overall organizational responsibilities.
The Gospel is everything about Jesus: who He is, from the beginning to the end; who God, His father, is; His role from Adam and Eve through eternity; the Trinity; what this all means to us. When we make disciples, as we are commanded to do in Matthew 28, this is what we are called to share with others over the course of our relationships with them. We do this through our words, our actions, and our love for them. We provide every opportunity to experience Jesus through us and to learn all about the Gospel.
More often than not, however, we tend to boil the Gospel down to the climax of Jesus’ death on the cross, in 10 minutes or less, with the idea that if we just share that with someone, they should be ready to give their life up for Him.
We can not forsake the former (full) Gospel for the latter (redacted fraction) Gospel.
This being said, there is a time and place for the briefer of these two versions. It comes after Christians have been planting seeds and nurturing them over time. When someone has been made a disciple (seeking to learn more about Jesus) and has progressed to the point that the Holy Spirit determines that it is time for them to make a decision, it is at this time that the last three days’ version is most effective.
There are many ways to share this final summary of the Gospel: Romans Road, the Bridge, Life in Six Words, Evangelism Explosion, etc… The challenge is that when you find yourself in that moment, your adrenaline may be pumping and anxiety may be high (what if I mess it up?). In consideration of this, it is beneficial to be prepared to present in the simplest way possible, one that relies upon your own personal knowledge of salvation. For that reason, Kevin Harney developed the Gospel GOGO. While it is not dissimilar from other versions, we think it makes sharing the Good News about as simple as it can possibly be. Just remember these four letters (G.O.G.O.) which represent four truths:
- God’s Love
- Explain the depth of God’s love for all people who are His creation and His great desire for us to be with Him
- Our Problem
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- Sin (things we think or do that we shouldn’t) separates us completely from God
- God’s Solution
- The sacrifice of His sinless Son so that we may have the opportunity to transfer our sins (past, present, future) in order to have eternal life, be indwelt by the Holy Spirit, and have open communication directly with God
- Our Response
- The door is open, we need only to repent of our sin and believe in Jesus as our Lord and Savior to share in this amazing promise
May you be blessed in your pursuit of fulfilling the Great Commission as you make disciples.
To see and download a bookmark version of the Gospel G.O.G.O., click here.