Reclaiming Evangelicalism

Date: Sunday, April 19, 2026

The word “evangelical” is a deeply profound biblical word that has lost some of its majesty in modern context. It literally means “good news telling”. We begin this week with four lepers sitting outside the gate of a starving city, making a desperate gamble that leads to the discovery of an abandoned camp full of treasure. Their realization is the perfect definition of the Gospel: “This is a day of good news but we are keeping it to ourselves.” They realized that the abundance they found wasn’t just for their own survival; it was for the restoration of the whole community. Grace, by its very nature, demands to be shared. It’s too big to be hoarded.

Psalm 92 is a song for the Sabbath, a day of “proclaiming your love in the morning and your faithfulness at night.” It’s a song of flourishing. Like the lepers who found a feast in the desert, the righteous “flourish like a palm tree” in an oasis. But this flourishing isn’t just about personal prosperity; it’s about becoming a signpost for God’s character. These four lepers are precursors to the disciples who would run from the empty tomb to tell the “good news” that the famine of sin and death has ended, and Christ is risen.

If we are following the path of true faith, we cannot simply be spiritual consumers. We are “lepers” who have found the King’s table. Our joy is tied to our witness. It’s not a compulsion to pass moral norms on others, but to share the life-giving truth of God’s abundant provision. If we have seen the “morning love” of God (Psalm 92), we have a moral obligation to invite the “starving city” of the world to the table; not by pronouncing behavioral requirements, but by sharing the truth without judgment or condition, just as it came to us. Grace is the feast, and the mission is simply one beggar telling another beggar where to find bread.

Devotional Prompts:

Who in your “starving city” needs to hear the “good news” of the abundance you’ve found in Christ?
Why is it so tempting to keep the good news to ourselves, or to package it into certain behavioral norms; and how can you resist that impulse today?

Prayer: Lord of the Feast, thank You for finding me at the gate and inviting me to Your table. Do not let me hoard Your grace. Give me a heart that overflows with the good news, so that others may experience the joy of Your table. Amen.