Becoming a Gospel Prepper

The Good Samaritan must have had some margin in life, don’t you think? Loving your enemy-neighbour that much surely took quite some admin! Bothering to attend to the battered stranger in the first place. Then there was all the over-and-above: Time taken to get him to care, money spent for treatment and recouperation, forty bucks for the deluxe donkey-wash.

Who has the time and money ready for that sort of spontaneous act? Uncomfortably, my first answer is ‘Not me’, and my second answer is, ‘The person who loves their neighbour the Jesus way.’ So going forward as a sacred agent, I have adjustments to make.

I think preparation is the key. Careful preparation opens up windows for spontaneity, as any romantic will tell you. So what would it look like to be a gospel prepper?

‘Preppers’, of course, are people who stockpile supplies in case of a future disaster. Sacred agents similarly have an eye on the future. We’re not oblivious to the dark powers and spiritual forces in the world, so putting on the armour of God^Eph6 is good preparation for standing firm. But part of that armour, in Paul’s metaphor, is “feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.” So standing firm does not mean standing back or standing still!

Are we fitted out to cross that road and help that bleeding stranger? To run up to that chariot and share with the Ethiopian official?^Ac8 To make the most of every opportunity with gracious conversation?^Col4 The peace we have with God means we prepare not out of a sense of doom or lack of control in this crazy world – but with all the assurance of the one who naps in the boat before calming the storm.^Mt8 The peace we have with God is a shalom we can share in radical ways like the Samaritan. It shows and tells the good news that what’s upon us – and right up in our face – is not a zombie apocalypse, but the kingdom of God.

Here’s a very basic Gospel Prepper’s Checklist:

• TIME: You can’t schedule sudden opportunities. But why not arrange a code-word you can say/text to your friends/family that means, ‘Sorry, I’m delayed by an opportunity to show and share Christ’? Just having that conversation in advance could be helpful all round.
• MONEY: A gospel-opportunity fund – even if it’s only enough to buy someone a meal – it’s set aside and ready to go when the opportunity comes.
• WORDS: Memorise a basic outline of your own testimony/gospel outline, cleared of jargon and tangents and practised on your Christian friends – so you really are ‘always prepared to give an answer’ when asked about your hope.^1Pe3

Imagine how effective we’d be at sharing Jesus if we were prepped up like that? How prepared are you? And what would you add to the checklist? Discuss!