Tag: gospel

Where does your Gospel lead?

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Road
I have written much about gospel lately, so much so that someone asked me the other day what I meant by gospel.  Ah yes, gospel. Yet another word from our Christian heritage that hasn't so much lost it's meaning as it's direction.  In other words, gospel is rightly defined as "good news", but there seems to be much confusion as to what IS good news especially on the evangelical landscape.   Evangelicalism as a whole is increasingly more generic everyday.  It's generic in the sense that the things that make Biblical Christianity distinct from the wisdom of our present day culture are absent or at best blurred in understanding.  The gospel has suffered as a casualty of this Christian consumerism.

When I say the gospel has lost it's direction, I believe that it is a failure on the part of mainstream evangelicalism to protect the gospel in it's zeal to disperse it.  I don't question the motives or the passion of many evangelicals in their quest to fulfill the great commission, in fact, I appreciate that the gospel "seed" is not merely cast down on the rocky ground without the passion and careful sowing that God requires of us.  I appreciate that evangelism isn't reduced to "tract planting".  But in our effort to reach the lost, have we been reckless in communicating what God says the the gospel is?  As someone who is in the ministry, and as someone who reads many philosophical viewpoints and attends ministry conferences and has candid conversations with others who have chosen the ministry as their vocation, I find myself asking the tell-tale question, "where does our Gospel lead?". I believe the answer will reveal "what" we believe the gospel to be. 

When asked, I have always defined the gospel with the stock answer that Jesus came to earth, died on the cross, and rose again so that I could be saved.  But I believe this answer is a thumbnail picture of a larger image.  It's not to say that the answer is untrue, but it is not the full view.  Indeed. I could talk about how the gospel is not only about our personal forgiveness or the securing of our eternal destiny.  I could point out that it is also about the "Kingdom at hand" as Jesus preached.  I could mention that it's about all the nations being brought under the ruler ship of Christ.  I could say that it involves world peace and the eradication of evil.  I could say all of these things are gospel, and I wouldn't be wrong.  The question is not only one of what, but where. 

Get God, or something from God?

I think it's safe to say that to many, the gospel leads them to the effects of the gospel as being their ultimate satisfaction.  As an example, the gospel I heard in my baptist church growing up was that the reason to believe in Christ was so that you could escape an eternal lake of fire equipped with gnashing of teeth and maggots crawling on your face.  Sadly, this "gospel" did not lead to Christ, it led to fear.  It led to a pursuit of safety.  Matt Chandler of the Village Church says "Heaven is not for those who want to escape hell, it's for those who love Christ."   As a result of this "gospel", there are many who experience a half dozen conversions hoping the last one will "take" and they won't wake up the next morning in a cold sweat thinking they've been "left behind".  I want to tell you, this is no gospel!  In fact, I feel a tremendous burden for those raised in this environment, because it's akin to a brainwashing that never completely goes away.

There are other examples where the gospel that people hear leads them to making the effects their ultimate satisfaction.  There's the gospel that drives people to dream about heaven.  Now that sounds good on the surface, but there are people who literally shut down in this life so they can get to the next one.  They cease "upkeep" on the little house they live in the suburbs because they're waiting for their "mansion" in the next life.  Instead of the prospect of seeing Christ, they're more excited about seeing their deceased loved ones.  Christ is like a bonus to them.  A Biblical gospel should drive us to a pursuit of Christ where He is valued above everything including our family!  Actually, a reunion with our loved ones in heaven is the bonus!  John Piper asks the tough question, "if you arrived in heaven and found out Jesus wasn't there, would that be okay with you."?

Speaking of our temporal home, often our earthly circumstances become the "where" of the gospel.  This is most prevalent in mainstream evangelicalism and I understand why.  Americans, especially, are chasing the pursuit of happiness, after all, that is one of our great American doctrines isn't it?  So there is a segment of Christianity that equates personal fulfillment/improvement with the Gospel. It doesn't seem a stretch to say that God wants to make you better. Does it?   Biblically speaking, what is a "better you" anyway?  Is it someone who is successful as our culture defines it?  I contend that "a better you" is someone like the Apostle Paul was slowly and methodically becoming every day.  His "improved self" was characterized by the choices of "sharing Christ's sufferings" or martyrdom.  Either way, His gospel, worked out, led directly to Christ.  Paul wasn't concerned with raising his self-esteem, in fact he was concerned with dying to self-esteem.  As nice as it is to have more money, a dependable car, and warm body to lie next to each night, these things don't lead to Christ. They are temporal.  They are but mere foretastes of greater joy and so I thank God for these earthly blessings, but I pray that they do not become ultimate in my life. 

There are many wonderful effects of the gospel.  However, we should never let the effects be where the gospel lead us, nor should we define our natural desires as gospel effects.  So many of us value the gifts of the Creator above the Creator Himself. As Piper puts it "if the Gospel doesn't lead to Christ, then it is no gospel at all."  So when we realize that the true Biblical gospel is one that leads to Christ, our gospel definition is supplied for us.  The Gospel is Christ.  That's why salvation isn't escape from hell and entrance into heaven, although these things are included, but rather a pursuit of Christ as the ultimate treasure of our lives!  This is the Gospel we should be pursuing, the one we should be preaching, and the one we should be living and dying for!

Realization

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Realize
Belief is a dangerous word.  This stems from the fact that there doesn’t seem to be a universally accepted truth about what belief is, what constitutes as belief, or whether belief even matters at all.  Within the body of Christ, there is a disagreement on how to define it, whereas outside the body of Christ, there is a consensus that it only matters to each individual conscience, in other words, there is no belief that everyone should adhere to. 

I want to primarily address belief within the body of Christ.  In some religious backdrops, belief is primarily defined as adherence to certain Biblical information.  This is often referred to as intellectual assent. For example, if you ask almost any Christian about who Jesus is and what His work was on this earth, the vast majority of those questioned will respond with the same answer.  Almost all will reply that He is the only begotten Son of God who came to this earth as a man to die for our sins so that we might receive salvation.   This answer confirms at the very least that there is a common belief, or more specifically, a mental agreement with the facts about Christ. 

The majority of the church reasons that the Bible is correct when it
states "by grace are you saved through faith, not of yourselves lest
any should boast".  When asked, most will admit that we can not do
anything to make ourselves acceptable to a Holy and Righteous God, that
we need His grace in order to be forgiven and restored.  We also freely
admit that is is by simple faith in Christ and His work that we receive
the life saving grace He bestows.

However, is the mere acceptance of information indicate true belief?  Doesn’t the scripture inform us that the demons believe the very same facts about Christ that most Christians do?  Yet, we don’t think of the demons as "believers" do we?  Because we know that true belief runs beneath the surface of mental agreement don’t we?

So once the facts are agreed upon, we often hear the call to "act" upon these beliefs.  This is expressed even in cliches like "if you are going to talk the talk, you gotta walk the walk."  I don’t know of many Christians who are satisfied just to know the facts about Christ.  I think most desire or at least reason that our lives should reflect our beliefs. 

The question I pose now is this.  When we recognize that belief is not just mental agreement, and that it is validated by action as James teaches in the New Testament, what do we do now?  Do we seek to validate our mental agreement with works?  Do we define every day as a "workday" in the Christian life?

Let me answer that last question with another question.  Is there anything more defeating to the human spirit than the thought that they can never be good enough or do enough good in order to be made worthy in God’s eyes? Yes, and that is the thought that I must live my life earning the gift of salvation after the fact!?   

I believe there is one important element that acts as the glue between mental belief and acted belief.  This bonding agent is simply known as "realization".  In order to reconcile the mind and heart, there must be realization.  Dictionary.com defines it as coming to understand something clearly and distinctly.

I remember in school studying for history exams.  Unfortunately, I didn’t pay attention in class very well which resulted in late night cramming.  When you cram for a test, you try to memorize every fact on the review.  I became real adept at finding ways to remember things by writing silly songs or word association.  In essence, I was memorizing these facts so that I would remember them long enough to write them down the next day.  The next day, I couldn’t have told you a thing about Napolean, Rome, The Alamo, or the Declaration of Independence.  I never took the time to read about these events or immerse myself in them.  I was only interested in the surface information, and even then, not until the last minute. 

Years later, I would watch movies about the things I was taught as a kid, and the light would go on in my head!  It was really as if I was hearing these things for the first time.  Actually, it was the first time that this information was ever realized! 

As husbands, we often experience the phenomena of realization in communication with our wives right?  "You spent how much on a purse!!!" we scream.  Then our wives reply with something like, "I told you yesterday that I needed this purse and how much it costs to which you said, ‘ok"!

Our whole spirit changes, we come to life once we realize the truth. 

So, I think the disconnect between the head and the heart can be summoned up in this one important word.  Realization.  There are many who believe God forgave them of their sins, but they don’t forgive others.  There are many who believe Jesus is the Way, yet they explore other ways.  There are many who believe Jesus is the King, but they acknowledge themselves as King. 

If you are experiencing this disconnect, you might be asking "what do I do"?  That is a hopeless question when you think about it.  Trying to figure out what you are to do will only keep you disconnected.  Unless you begin to fully realize what you claim to believe, then you will never live as you think you should. 

Take forgiveness for example, if you truly believe you are forgiven because of what Christ did, then why do you keep trying to live your life earning the forgiveness that has already been extended?  The Bible uses the description "gift of God" which is very familiar language to the Christian, but not really believed.  If Christians really believe that Salvation was God’s gift, then they wouldn’t spend their lives trying to pay Him back. 

Indeed, it is a difficult thing to comprehend.  The Gospel is that we only need to receive the gift!  Receiving is the natural response to grace. When we carry a mindset of earning, whether it’s before our after our initial faith, we lose the essence of grace altogether.  We need realization to truly free us from this bondage. 

What if someone walked up to you and handed you a thousand dollars in cash right now.  What would be your response?  The natural human response would be to question the giver. "What’s the catch? What do I have to do?"   You would need some convincing that this money was free and you didn’t have to pay it back.  What it would take to convince you?  You would be convinced once you realized that this was a gift.  Maybe it would take several things to convince you like the giver to walk away and never be heard from again, or a shopping spree at the mall.  At some point, maybe that day, maybe a year later, you would finally realize that the money was a gift!  You would have a spirit of freedom!  Perhaps you would never be free.  Maybe you would live your life expecting the giver to show up at your door to collect a favor from you.

I truly believe that many Christians have never realized the gospel.  They’ve heard it’s content thousands of times and they could ace the written exam.  They’ve repeated prayers, they’ve stormed the altar, and they’ve taught Sunday school, but they perhaps never realized what they claim to believe!

There’s something else about the nature of realization.  It often requires time and patience.  As a minister of the gospel, I sometimes wish the process was faster.  I wish everyone would experience a Pauline conversion, a blinding light of accusation that electro-shocks our spirituality.  But for most of us, that’s the exception not the norm.

Luther
Sadly, many church leaders work on a dangerous assumption.  They assume that because mental assent runs rampant, that there is no need to deliver the gospel message with regularity.  They reason that people already know the gospel, and now just need practical advice on how to be a better person.  They fail to realize that the gospel is not only for those who haven’t heard it, but also for those who’ve heard it a thousand times. 

When asked why he preached the gospel every week, Martin Luther replied "Because you forget it every week."  In reality, it takes people a long time to realize the truth no matter how often they hear it. 

I wonder if a day will come when everyone who has ever breathed will realize the truth of the gospel? Hopefully it will take place in this life and not after.  If not, that will be a sad realization.