One
of the best ways men can encourage each other with the gospel is simply with
honesty and transparency. Dietrich Bonhoeffer talks about meeting each other as
bringers of the gospel — I need the gospel in my brother, my brother needs the
gospel in me. In some ways—this might sound odd but it’s true—the gospel in me
is stronger than the one in my brother, and the gospel in my brother is stronger
than the one in me.
The gospel is meant to be proclaimed, it’s meant to be shared. So we need to meet each other that way. We need to meet each other within the context of our sinfulness and our brokenness, and with the knowledge that neither one of us measures up apart from Christ. In this way, we give each other the freedom to be honest about our own struggles and our own sin, confessing to one another.
There is a healing component to confession like James 5:16 says. When we meet each other in that context, it really provides a great climate for grace to do the powerful work that it does. I am not meeting you as someone who has figured something out that you can’t figure out. I am meeting you as a humble person—as a beggar who has found bread. In the same way, you are meeting me as a beggar who has found bread. We can help each other and rejoice together.
The gospel is meant to be proclaimed, it’s meant to be shared. So we need to meet each other that way. We need to meet each other within the context of our sinfulness and our brokenness, and with the knowledge that neither one of us measures up apart from Christ. In this way, we give each other the freedom to be honest about our own struggles and our own sin, confessing to one another.
There is a healing component to confession like James 5:16 says. When we meet each other in that context, it really provides a great climate for grace to do the powerful work that it does. I am not meeting you as someone who has figured something out that you can’t figure out. I am meeting you as a humble person—as a beggar who has found bread. In the same way, you are meeting me as a beggar who has found bread. We can help each other and rejoice together.
The
gospel shared in the context of honesty and transparency is one of the best
things that Christian brothers can provide for each other.
Jared C. Wilson is the director of content strategy at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Kansas City, Missouri, and a contributor to the ESV Men’s Devotional Bible.
