The Gospel Blimp

The Gospel Blimp and other Modern Parables by Joseph Bayly was loaned to me by my good friend Travis Cardwell and it was a treat to read.

The Gospel Blimp shows the journey of some well-intentioned Christians who devise a plan to reach all of their lost neighbors for Christ. The whole idea of creating a blimp to spread the Good News emerged as a group of friends pondered how they could communicate the gospel to the next door neighbors.

The problems begin quickly as this mass-evangelistic campaign seems to do nothing but annoy all the people in the town. (Maybe some people reading this can relate!) The Gospel Blimp is accompanied with a PA system and "firebombs", which are gospel tracts that are dropped all over the town. The Christians on Gospel Blimp Committee become consumed with the means of the Gospel message and in turn do more damage than good. I'll stop summarizing there because I don't want to ruin this for any potential readers.

Anyhow, this parable is stark reminder of how important it is for us to engage in personal evangelism. I have been a part of ministries that have labored to distribute hundreds of gospel tracts and while God does use some of these labors, it would be a grave mistake for us to ignore those God has placed at our places of work and in our neighborhoods. We need to open our eyes to the folks God has placed in our lives and be faithful to the Gospel message. We need to love these people and be conduits of grace and truth.

Go buy The Gospel Blimp and other Modern Parables and let it beat you up for awhile. It will convict and encourage you.