Colossians 1:6 - Gospel gone viral

"...the [Good News] coming unto you, just as it is also in all the world, bearing fruit and growing, just as also in you, since what day you heard and understood the grace of God in truth." 

-A few observations.  This Good News, this Word of Truth, is indeed alive.  It is powerful.  It has been bearing fruit and increasing for two millenia, spreading and going viral through all the world, giving hope to multiplied hundreds of millions of people.  It was happening when Paul wrote this letter (cf Acts 6.7, 9.31, 16.5), and that growth continues unabated in our day.  It doesn't make people perfect, not this side of heaven at least, nor is it immune to being abused and misused by well-intentioned and mal-intentioned alike.  But the fruit of the spread of this true Message of hope and peace has literally changed the lives of billions of people, as those who have carried it in their hearts and lives and on their lips have not only built churches but things like schools and orphanages and hospitals and wells as well.  God's messengers bring compassion and dignity and ethics wherever they go and establish things that we in the west now take for granted, things like freedom - democracy.  Literacy.  Higher education (many universities began as institutions of theological training).  And again, yes, there have been notable and even tragic abuses along the way, but in every instance you'll find that the fault lay with a flawed messenger, not with the Message itself.

-Note that growth - both personal spiritual growth as well as the spread of the Message throughout the world, the actual increase in the number of disciples - is tied to understanding.  It is not just enough for people to hear or even know the Word - they must understand it.  They must perceive its intended meaning and respond appropriately.  Thus in understanding they must also commit themselves to it - any failure or shortcoming in my commitment to the Gospel means I haven’t fully understood it.  The messenger's job is to faithfully and boldly speak the Truth in a way that is clear and accurate.  The rest is up to our hearers (and ultimately the Lord).

-Note too that what they came to understand is the grace of God.  Not just some creed.  Not a path for personal peace or self-improvement.  Not a set of religious rules or sacrifices intended to curry favor with a capricious and over-demanding deity.  The Good News is that holy and righteous almighty God accepts me and literally adopts me in to His forever family as an underserved gift.  There is not one thing I can do to earn it.  Simply believe and receive.