Why I wanna tell you about Jesus

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.  –John 3:16 (ESV)
 
I want you to be a Christian. I will do my best to ensure that you have a chance to hear the untainted story of the gospel. I will engage you in conversation that intentionally challenges you to consider Christianity as a viable belief system. But perhaps not for the reasons you might assume.
 
Many have assumed that Christians are about ego, power, or control. If I can convince you that hell is real and you’re on your way there if you don’t change your ways and you need me to show you how you should behave in order to avoid such a fate, that creates a moral inequality that I might take advantage of. You’d be wise to be suspicious of that setup and I wouldn’t blame you if you resented it.
 
Morality and value statements emerging from that perceived arrangement are almost universally seen as judgmental, and when made by someone with obvious issues of their own, hypocritical. But that isn’t the gospel. The gospel is not about creating moral high ground where people draw circles and decide who is in and who is out. As the saying goes, the ground is level at the foot of the cross.
 
Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really know me, you will know my Father as well.”  –John 14:6-7a (NIV)
 
The gospel is the epic rescue story of a loving Creator God who gave Himself to save His creation from a viciously evil adversary and his minions. The creation was placed in peril when the image-bearers of the Creator, chosen by Him to be stewards and curators of the creation, believed the lie of the enemy that the Creator was neither as good nor great as advertised, and that they needed to make their own goodness and greatness.
 
That pursuit turned out about as you might expect. Succeeding generations of mankind have plumbed the depths of despair and depravity, cruelly exploiting one another for self-seeking accomplishments. But each new achievement, possession, distraction, and perversion has failed to provide purpose or lasting relief to the real problem – separation from our Maker.
 
A good God must ultimately hold unrepentant evil accountable. “Olly Olly Oxen Free!” is not justice. For those who willfully choose eternal separation, God will sorrowfully honor their choice. But that has never been His desire. He wills that all would come to know Him and enjoy a rich personal relationship with Him. And He has provided that pathway back home through the Son, Jesus Christ.
 
Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.  –1 John 4:7-8 (ESV)
 
So if you’re around me very much, you’ll probably hear me talk about Jesus. Not because I’m better than you or know what you should be doing. It’s just that I’ve found God to be a loving Father who gives me life and hope and strength to see His face in a fallen world; the thought that you might miss out on truly knowing Him sincerely grieves me. If we’re already brothers, we’ll celebrate that together. But if not, I’m already praying for you and I hope we get a chance to visit.