“Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should.”

As we near the 10th anniversary of 9/11, I am reminded of how many companies who didn’t have in place at that time a company-wide communication and message plan but now have them established and ready to go at all times. As I sat on the tarmac in Indianapolis on that fateful morning, after having flown out of JFK heading to SFO, there I was trying to coordinate a communication plan with the company from a low-battery Blackberry. Fortunately, we were not one of the companies that suffered the loss of employees in 9/11 and we were able to account for everyone, but we were unprepared to be able to communicate directly with our employees in a coordinated manner. We were not alone. Today, most companies and organizations have planned, reviewed, and practiced what it would take to get a message out and received. Being ready with a message, for whatever purpose, is good business practice.

When Paul wrote about message readiness, he was also coming from a place of distress. Paul didn’t have an easy life. He lived most of his Christian life under persecution. Yet, regardless of the situation, he was ready with the message of the gospel. He taught that to his disciples and to the churches that he mentored. He was also teaching it to us. We are being told that we should always have our message ready as well. When asked, or given the opportunity, are we ready to fearlessly speak the gospel? Each day at work, we are provided with such opportunities, if we are listening and ready for them. In the next days and weeks there will be lots of water-cooler talk about 9/11 and where were, what it meant, how it happened, etc. Much of this conversation will come from a place of personal reflection and maybe some questioning about life and why? Let’s be attuned for the opportunity to provide our story of why there is true hope and life to be had. Let’s have our message ready.

Reference: Ephesians 6:19-20