My son-in-law knows his way around the kitchen. Was reminded of that last week as we spent a couple of days with him and my daughter on their turf. Most often, around our place, Sue cooks it up . . . puts it out . . . and we say, “Come and get it!” . . . buffet style. When my son-in-law is making dinner, after cooking it up, he “plates it” and serves it. If it weren’t for the anticipation of what the food is going to taste like, you might not disturb how it’s been arranged on the plate . . . topped with sauce, presented with a well thought out garnish . . . it looks pretty amazing . . . almost a shame to mess it up by cutting into it. The care with which my son-in-law presents his food came to mind as I was reading the manner in which Paul “plated the gospel.”

But we were gentle among you, like a nursing mother taking care of her own children. So, being affectionately desirous of you, we were ready to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves, because you had become very dear to us.    (1Thessalonians 2:7-8 ESV)

Paul came to Thessalonica ready to serve up “the gospel of God.” Meat indeed . . . life giving nourishment for the soul. Paul considered himself “entrusted with the gospel” (2:4b). He was a steward of the good news declaring Him who was “the Bread of heaven” . . . “For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world” (John 6:33). Paul says that he had “boldness in God” (2:2) . . . that he had been “approved by God” (2:4a) . . . and that he desired nothing but “to please God” (2:4c) . . . in bringing “the gospel of God” (2:2, 2:8, 2:9) to a people in desperate need of life-giving food.

Given how much they needed it . . . and the authority Paul had to dish it . . . you’d think that a “Come and get it!” approach would have sufficed. Evidently not.

While God had provided “the food,” Paul prepared “the food” and served “the food” taking the utmost care to make it as attractive as possible. Not by compromising the message of the depths of their need . . . not by wavering on there being only one way to the Father . . . but by serving up the gospel garnished in the love and compassion of Christ as displayed through the messengers of Christ. In a sense, it seems Paul was mindful of “plating the gospel.”

The good news was presented in the context of gentleness . . . like a nursing mother caring for her children. It was plated amidst a legitimate desire for their souls . . . accentuated as the sharing of the message was accompanied by the sharing of the messengers’ lives. Paul discharged not just a duty to preach the Word . . . but was driven by the care and concern for individual souls . . . “affectionately desirous” of them . . . and, as such, he willingly invested his time and himself in order that God might use Paul’s life to enhance His message.

And I think that maybe sometimes we can become so locked on the need to share the good news that we fail to invest in the people who need the good news. That we think if we just give ’em the gospel then we’re done . . . rather than having a compassion and desire for those in need of the gospel . . . rather than giving not just our words, but our lives as well, in order to draw people to the message they need to receive . . . rather than plating the gospel with a sincere care for the souls of men and women.

It’s still about the power of God to save . . . about the substance of the food being presented. But I do think Paul was mindful of how it was presented . . . of the garnish surrounding it . . . that as much as lied within him, Paul would not be a stumbling block but an attractor, to the gospel of God.

May I be mindful of plating the gospel as well. By His grace . . . for His glory.