diff --git a/lib/rackstash/encoders/message.rb b/lib/rackstash/encoders/message.rb
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f7615c7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/rackstash/encoders/message.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+# Copyright 2017 Holger Just
+#
+# This software may be modified and distributed under the terms
+# of the MIT license. See the LICENSE.txt file for details.
+
+module Rackstash
+  module Encoders
+    # The Message encoder only returns the message of log event. All other
+    # fields and tags are ignored.
+    #
+    # This encoder is useful in environments where the added fields are not
+    # required, mostly during development where debug logs are directly consumed
+    # by humans
+    class Message
+      # @param event [Hash] a log event as produced by the {Flow}
+      # @return [String] the `"message"` field of the event. Trailing whitespace
+      #     will be removed.
+      def encode(event)
+        event[FIELD_MESSAGE].rstrip
+      end
+    end
+  end
+end
diff --git a/spec/rackstash/encoders/message_spec.rb b/spec/rackstash/encoders/message_spec.rb
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d28a75f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/spec/rackstash/encoders/message_spec.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,24 @@
+# Copyright 2017 Holger Just
+#
+# This software may be modified and distributed under the terms
+# of the MIT license. See the LICENSE.txt file for details.
+
+require 'spec_helper'
+
+require 'rackstash/encoders/message'
+
+describe Rackstash::Encoders::Message do
+  let(:encoder) { Rackstash::Encoders::Message.new }
+
+  describe '#encode' do
+    it 'gets the message from the event hash' do
+      event = { 'hello' => 'world', 'message' => 'hello' }
+      expect(encoder.encode(event)).to eql 'hello'
+    end
+
+    it 'rstrips the message' do
+      event = { 'message' => "\n\t \nline1\nline2\n  \n\t\n" }
+      expect(encoder.encode(event)).to eql "\n\t \nline1\nline2"
+    end
+  end
+end