Proclaim the Good News

 By Bishop Brian Maas

When Jesus sent out the twelve, the first task they were given was to “proclaim the good news.” He gave many other instructions, including advice to “shake off the dust from your feet” if a community wouldn’t receive it. Not everybody will hear the good news as a good thing. The kingdom of heaven is disruptive.

Throughout the pandemic, the church has done a pretty good job of going out to proclaim the good news—or at least going out beyond the building’s walls, livestreaming worship and other events, literally to the ends of the earth.

Now things are beginning to change. Congregations are beginning to gather again in person, and they’re noticing something. The numbers in the pews now are smaller than they were before pandemic. And there’s a bit of anxiety and a lot of uncertainty about it. 

That makes it all the more likely we’ll hear objection to the good news or its proclamation. We’ll hear calls to end online outreach and to ensure an appealing message. History and human nature suggest we’ll compromise and proclaim something inoffensive and soft and bland. Something that in the end is neither good nor news.



How do I know? I’ve done it, countless times throughout my career. It’s dangerously easy to do, especially in times of high anxiety. But sooner or later the gospel has its way and the good news can’t stay contained. It comes out, and some are inevitably offended.

What is the disruptive, offensive good news of the kingdom of heaven? It’s many things, but it’s undeniably the announcement that all are welcome—no exceptions; that hatred has no place, that forgiveness is practiced, that death and loss are not denied, that grief and sorrow are given room; and that resurrection is real, hope is constant and the future is God’s to give, not ours to create or control.

That’s an awful lot of good news for some folks. Sometimes, it’s an awful lot for me. The good news shatters some of my favorite grievances and pettiness and need for control. And when it shatters those things for other people, I am sometimes the agent of the good news and the target of their reactivity.

That’s when the temptation is strong to reinterpret Jesus’ words as “proclaim the good news, but… don’t make it too offensive, don’t make too big a deal of it, don’t be pushy about it, be nice, water it down a little…” --you know the list. But watering down the gospel is like watering down medicine. It’s easier to swallow, but it doesn’t do any good.

As we traverse this transition and anxiety, it’s all the more important to proclaim the good news. It’s the only thing powerful enough to sustain us through the changes that are bound to come. Know that reactivity and pushback are a near certainty, and that they’ll likely be pointed at you. 

When that’s the case, keep the good in the good news and invite people to cling to the hope that’s inseparable from it. God’s future is coming. What the church will look like in that future is as yet unknown, but it will look different.  Because the kingdom of heaven is near, and change is one of its constants, unavoidably and wonderfully.

Fear not. Hope greatly. And proclaim the good news.


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