A few years ago I was playing disc golf with my oldest son, his wife, and my third son. On one hole, my third son threw his disc, and it landed in a muddy spot. We didn’t realize just how muddy it was. My son stepped in the mud to retrieve his disc, and his foot disappeared in the mud. He hadn’t tied his sneakers very tight, so when he pulled his foot upward, the mug held his sneaker under the surface, and out came my son’s foot with a sock and no shoe. That shoe was stuck. We had to reach down into the mud hole which was slowing closing and pull out the shoe.
In life we can get stuck in many ways.
What does Paul have in mind when he describes the footwear in the armor of God? He gives us a clue when he uses the word “readiness.” Ready to move. Flexible. Light on your feet. Yes, we are standing firm, but that doesn’t mean we are stuck. Our feet are not glued to the floor. Our weight is not resting on our heels. We are nimble. Our weight is shifted forward to the front of our feet.
But of course, as we’ve said all along, Paul is not writing a training manual for physical battle. He is talking about the habits and practices of Christians in spiritual battle. Paul is speaking figuratively here. What he is saying is that we need to be ready. But what does he mean?
Ready for what? Ready to do what? How do we get ready? Remember, Paul is not talking about literal footwear. Instead he is talking about something related to the Gospel of Peace in relationship with the battles we face in life.
The New International Version, translates Paul’s words as the “readiness that comes from the Gospel of Peace,” but the words “comes from” are not in the original. Instead what Paul specifically says is “readiness of the Gospel of Peace.”
That’s a bit vague, though. What is readiness of the Gospel of Peace is Paul talking about?
The noun that Paul used for “Gospel” is derived from the verb that means “to declare good news.” In the New Testament writings, that is the good news about Jesus’ birth, life, death and resurrection, through which he won the victory over sin, death and the devil, thus making it possible for all people to have access the abundant flourishing life of God. In English, we call that “The Gospel,” which is derived from the old Anglo-Saxon word “Good spell,” which is referring to a good story. The story of Jesus’ victory is the ultimate good story!
What Paul has in mind for this piece of the Armor of God is a Christian habit of readiness to tell that wonderful good news story of Jesus, and in particular Paul emphasizes the fact that it is a good news story of peace.
But what does that mean, the “Gospel of peace”? Christians, in my experience, don’t often call it the Gospel of Peace. We call it the Gospel of Jesus. Or the Gospel of Truth. We might hear that phrase “the Gospel of Peace,” and think, “Peace is a good word for the things of God, so it fits, I guess.” But how does it fit? What are some reasons why Paul would say that we Christians need to be ready to declare the story of Jesus as a good news story of peace?
In the next post we take a look at that word, peace, and how it relates to a readiness to declare the good news story of Jesus.
Photo by Carlos Magno on Unsplash
Engaging Scripture 
Great point! The Gospel of Jesus often feels like we’re telling someone the end of a movie that they haven’t watched. Why do we start with Jesus? But the gospel of peace . . . lots of people need peace, and they can identify needing peace. When you’re talking to someone, how do you know they’re ready to listen?
Thanks for this, and good question. It seems to me that every situation is unique. Some people might show an eagerness to listen, but are actually inwardly not truly eager. They might just be polite. Others might show outward signs of awkwardness, which could be interpreted as disinterest, but they are truly interested, just wrestling with deep matters or perhaps uncomfortable. I suggest patient grace in all conversations. We want to avoid pushiness.