The Gospel

You know me the nerd - can't just live life, I have to think about it - so here are my thoughts on life from the last few days
I have been hearing a lot about the Gospel around Beirut - mostly from people who believe it - but we have been sharing it with others (I am thrilled with this, it is great to have this freedom!) It has made me wonder - what "REALLY" is the Gospel - it is substitutionary atonement? Is it the 4 Spiritual laws? Is it that Christ died, was buried and rose again? And how are you supposed to share it?
I have decided that I am "going to go" with Paul's definition - that seems like a safe bet. So, the Gospel is CHRIST - died, buried and risen. Seems simple enough. But how do you share a Person - I can share a list of ideas, I can share my story - but how do I share me? How do I share my dad? How do I share Jesus? I am not sure that I know how - I am a bit overwhelmed. I think that all my life I have thought of the Gospel as a set of ideas, and in the last few years it has been shaken and reshaped - but still, I wonder if I am too tied to those ideas.
Ok, so why is this hitting the fan now? Well, the people of this country - and all the books I have read or stories I have been told about these people - admit that this is a shame culture, not a guilt one. All of my discipline options when I taught in the Middle East had to change - because I disciplined based on guilt, and I had to change to discipline out of shame - they are really different -
so here, the Gospel that I have always understood - one of my guilt being taken - means little. So I struggle - how do I share Christ - not water down the truth of who He is and what He does - and yet not do it in a "guilt" way!
How do I share the Gospel - maybe it comes down to love.
Sorry this blog is scattered, my thoughts are scattered - I hope that I can flesh this out a bit more in the next few weeks/months - and I hope to learn from people here - so maybe there is a "to be continued" - but maybe not :)