DO YOU KNOW JESUS THIS WAY?
DO YOU KNOW JESUS THIS WAY?
We’re Not Exporting Another Self-Improvement Program
I flew straight from North Africa to Washington DC for the inaugural AGWM Gospel Access Conference. There’s no better way to beat jet lag than immersing yourself in global missions conversations with 700 pastors, business leaders, and missionaries.
Gospel access isn’t just a catchy conference title—it’s a commitment to ensure every nation, tribe, and tongue has the opportunity to hear the Good News. It’s obedience to Jesus’ last words before He ascended: “Go and make disciples of all nations.”
Executive Director John Easter made a statement in his opening message that made me want to shout:
“The gospel is not a self-improvement program. The gospel is the great Euangelion—the Good News—that Jesus has already accomplished it all. We have to increase access to Jesus.”
Here’s what hit me—If we’re going to engage the Great Commission globally, we first have to encounter it personally.
We’re not preaching another philosophy in the pantheon of world religions. We’re not handing out a Western list of morals or pious rules to try and make God happy.
We’re not telling people what they must do for God at all. We’re announcing what God—in Christ—has already done for them. It’s not good advice. It’s good news!
Do you know Jesus this way? It’s Easter week, so there’s no better time to ask yourself this vital question.
It Really is Finished
There’s a quote from an unknown source that I love:
“God is not at the top of a ladder shouting ‘climb!’ He’s at the bottom on a cross, declaring ‘It is finished.’”
I absolutely love that imagery. This is the gospel The Stone Table is called to preach through the marketplace. There is a gap between us and our Creator that we can’t close—but Jesus did. The gospel is God’s move toward us, and missions is simply joining Him in His pursuit of the world He loves.
Let Him find you—and then let’s go help others find Him, too.
Happy Easter week from The Stone Table!
Erik Cooper
Erik began his career in the business world before spending twelve years in full-time ministry, serving on staff at a large suburban church and later as a church planter in downtown Indianapolis. Today, he serves as the President of a family of business-oriented nonprofit organizations that work together to mobilize the marketplace to make Jesus known in the world. He leads The Stone Table, which equips marketplace believers and invests in global mission initiatives, and Community Reinvestment Foundation, a nonprofit real estate company providing high-quality affordable housing in Indiana and directing its profits to missions through The Stone Table.
