Mal Fletcher on sharing your faith this Christmas

All of the above characteristics apply to the gospel. In fact, in the Bible, buzz is called 'evangelism'.

The spread of the gospel through the first century world, and later through Western civilization, provides a great example of buzz at its most contagious! That's why many business writers now talk about the role of 'company evangelists'; people who are paid to create buzz.

The greatest enemy to the gospel is not secular humanism, existentialism, rationalism or any of the plethora of philosophical options before us.

When it comes to sharing our faith in Christ, I think our greatest enemy is predictability.

These days, it seems that as soon as you announce yourself a Christian, people think they know what you're going to say and do and how you might say and do it.

Yet, there is nothing even remotely predictable about the gospel. Who could possibly have predicted the direction and the impact of Jesus' life?

There was nothing predictable or mundane about Jesus. His birth, life, death and resurrection are all surrounded with an air of surprise.

Jesus did things we'd never seen before. He could still a storm with a word from his mouth, feed multitudes with nothing more than a boy's lunch and raise people from the dead.

Jesus said things we'd never heard before. So many in our society say that they have no time for Jesus, yet they quote him all the time, without knowing it.

In his own time, Jesus amazed people with his miracles. He astonished them with his teaching. Finally, he shocked many of them with the manner of his death.

The gospel is a surprising message. God broke through the clutter of humanity's disjointed perceptions and skewed orientation to spring the most unexpected and most glittering of all surprises.

Through a baby born in a stable, through a man who evicted sickness and made waves stand still, God sprang out at us shouting: 'SURPRISE! I still love you!'

Given that we serve the Master of Surprises, why have we in the church become so predictable?

The only thing people should be able to predict about a church - or a Christian -- is that we're going to surprise them, because we represent Christ.