4 Ways of Talking about God to Anyone at Any Time: Tim Chester's 4 Gs

There are many ways to gospelize Christians and hold out hope to those not yet united to Jesus Christ. Tim Chester calls it the 4Gs.

1. God is good so you don’t have to look elsewhere.

God promises that he is our good in and above all good things. We know and see this in Jesus Christ. Therefore, we don’t have to be enslaved to our desire for other things more than Jesus.

2. God is great so you don’t have to be in control.

I like to say God is in control so you don’t have to be. This is good news because he promises to use all things for our ultimate good. He is wiser than we are so his decisions to control things to turn out the way they do is good news. We can all look back on things that we are thankful did not go the way we first desired.

3. God is glorious so you don’t have to fear others.

God is bigger than your biggest threat. Infinitely bigger. This means that your fear of others is minimizing the glory and awesomeness of God. When God inspires awe from his infinite glory and power there is little room to fear the threats from others.

4. God is gracious so you don’t have to prove yourself.

God accepts us fully in Christ Jesus by faith alone in Jesus. We are completely accepted by God on the basis of Christ’s righteousness. We don’t have to prove oursleves to God because we can’t. And yet God accepts us in Christ Jesus. If God accepts us, then we don’t need another’s approval as badly as we might feel. Ultimately, we don’t have to prove ourselves to God, others, or ourselves.

Think about these 4 Gs and use them to speak to others who need to hear good news today. God is the good news. Give them God in giving them one of these 4 Gs. But only do it after carefully listening to those you engage and find their tension or restlessness that can use a gospel truth.

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