In 2 Thessalonians 3, Paul asks the Church to pray for them, that the Gospel might spread rapidly, literally that it would “run”. Paul makes the equation between the dependency of the rapid spreading of the Gospel with our willingness and ability to run with it, since it doesn’t spread by itself. But what does it mean to “run” with the Gospel?

In John 20, we see Mary Magdalene, and then apostles Peter and John, running to and from the tomb because of the news that Jesus had risen from the dead. I can envision them all panting, breathing deeply, exhaustingly from the labor of running, in and out, with both joy and fear, as if Jesus’s life and death were in their lungs and breath. That’s the point! It was and is suppose to be!.

We are to run with the Gospel in similar fashion, as if we just heard and experienced the news for the first time. We should be filled with amazement and excitement, with the message of his death and resurrection with great haste and anticipation, with the knowledge of the both the potential for salvations and the peril of damnation for the souls we meet. We should be laboring with every breath! In this way, the Gospel just might spread more rapidly!