Onward, Christian Strangers: 3 Things to Remember About the Gospel
Hello again, Internet world! It is good to be back in the world of study and writing as a part of my new ministry position focused on Outreach & Evangelism. I look forward to sharing the many "gleanings" that come as a result of teaching, preaching, and the many conversations I am privileged to engage in each week about what God is doing in the world and how He is inviting us to join in His work in the ways of outreach and sharing the Gospel message.
My other passion is found at the intersection of faith and grief. To that end I have another blog entitled "Toward a Theology of Grief" that explores what God is doing when we are at some of our lowest points, and how He walks with us in his own ways for his own purposes. You can find that blog here.
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Opening Series: "Onward, Christian Strangers"
Our first series to explore together is all about what it looks like to share the Gospel message in this new day, where Christians (ought to) feel more like strangers than perhaps we ever have before. In a cultural climate where both the religious and non-religious groups are growing at the same time, the "Good News" we have to share is both more relevant and yet more marginalized than ever. How do we seize the opportunity to speak the "old, old story" to a "new, new day?"
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When was the last time you used a fax machine or benefited from one in some way?
For most of us, fax machines continue to play a major role of convenience in our life, for everything from business deals to getting our kids' vaccination records to the school on time.
Now, when was the last time you used a fax machine and thought to yourself, "What an amazing piece of technology I am privileged to use today!"
Familiarity breeds forgetfulness and lack of appreciation, both for fax machines...and for the Gospel message.
When was the last time you sat back and truly marveled at what God accomplished for humanity on the cross?
How long has it been since Jesus' willingness to stand in our place, for your sins and the sins of the world, brought you to a moment of awe and deep thankfulness?
And when was the last time you considered that the Christian story is unique to all other religions, and what makes it that way?
We have stopped desiring to hear the story preached in different ways from the pulpit every Sunday, and to explore its different applications for our lives in Bible classes, and rejoice with fellow believers in the liberating beauty and grace shown to us on a cruel cross and in an empty tomb. We are overly familiar with the Gospel message, and have forgotten the stark contrast in which it stands to every other religious story in history.
So where do we go from here? How do we re-capture our excitement and appreciation for the Gospel in such a way that it fuels our desires to tell others about it?
1. First, we need to remember what makes the Gospel unique above all other religious declarations.
The story of the Gospel, what it means, and what it offers us is not just one more religious idea or sales pitch among many, although that is what the secular world would have us believe. The Gospel says and does things that only it can do. We'll look at "3 Only's of the Gospel" in next week's post, but for now, consider this thought: Christianity is the only religion that says instead of man clamoring to reach God through meditation or good works, God instead accommodated himself to us through the incarnation of Jesus Christ, and beyond that, gave up his own life in order to achieve for us what we could not achieve for ourselves. Only Christianity preaches that message!
It is amazing how much of the Gospel's beauty comes back into sharp focus when you begin to look at it in comparison to everything else that is out there in the religious world. It can be easy to assume that all religions basically describe the same stories and teach the same concepts as Christianity, but they do not! Christianity is unique, and beautiful, in the things it pronounces, declares, and describes for us.
2. Second, we need to remember that the Gospel is not just saving us for eternity but is saving us to do and to be something today.
In the back of our minds, I think nearly all of us as Christians know and feel that Christianity speaks purpose, meaning, and hope into our everyday lives. We just don't always know how to articulate that to someone else. Yes, there is a feeling of purpose and meaning that flows from the Gospel, but there is a hard reason for that, because of what the Gospel declares! But I wonder if a lot of us are reluctant to talk about the Gospel using words like "purpose" and phrases like "meeting our deepest needs" because we fear turning it into the Prosperity Gospel of men like Joel Osteen.
Three basic questions that every human being must find answers to if they are to function in society are: Who am I? (identity) What am I here to do? (purpose) What is my value? (worth) As long as these questions go unanswered, or have the wrong answers applied to them, they will serve as obstacles for that person, interfering with their goal of flourishing and finding joy and contentment. The Gospel provides satisfying and fulfilling answers to those questions, freeing us to do and be what we were created to do and be, by our Creator! The Gospel doesn't just change things for that one future time, it changes things now.
3. Finally, we need to remember how to speak the Gospel in "heart languages" other than our own.
One of the ramifications of the previous point is that there are lots of people for whom the cross and the empty tomb have no relevance. And it's not because they're all necessarily obstinate, secularist, anti-God kinds of people...it's because they haven't heard the Gospel message in their language yet. A language like philosophy and reason, or a heart-driven emotional one, or perhaps a logical apologetic. The Gospel is the most versatile story of all- it can stand up on its own and speak to anyone's language!
But have we taken the time to think about the Gospel in any language besides our own? Sure, the Gospel can speak logically through a passage like Romans 6, but what if my neighbor's language is one that is more attuned to the heart? Can I tell the Gospel story in a way that meets her where she is? When we can, we are doing incarnational ministry, and that is a wonderful, wonderful thing.
Onward, Christian strangers...to a world (and a church) that needs to see the beauty of the Gospel.
My other passion is found at the intersection of faith and grief. To that end I have another blog entitled "Toward a Theology of Grief" that explores what God is doing when we are at some of our lowest points, and how He walks with us in his own ways for his own purposes. You can find that blog here.
________________________________
Opening Series: "Onward, Christian Strangers"
Our first series to explore together is all about what it looks like to share the Gospel message in this new day, where Christians (ought to) feel more like strangers than perhaps we ever have before. In a cultural climate where both the religious and non-religious groups are growing at the same time, the "Good News" we have to share is both more relevant and yet more marginalized than ever. How do we seize the opportunity to speak the "old, old story" to a "new, new day?"
________________________________
When was the last time you used a fax machine or benefited from one in some way?
For most of us, fax machines continue to play a major role of convenience in our life, for everything from business deals to getting our kids' vaccination records to the school on time.
Now, when was the last time you used a fax machine and thought to yourself, "What an amazing piece of technology I am privileged to use today!"
Familiarity breeds forgetfulness and lack of appreciation, both for fax machines...and for the Gospel message.
When was the last time you sat back and truly marveled at what God accomplished for humanity on the cross?
How long has it been since Jesus' willingness to stand in our place, for your sins and the sins of the world, brought you to a moment of awe and deep thankfulness?
And when was the last time you considered that the Christian story is unique to all other religions, and what makes it that way?
For nearly all of us as Christians, whether we spend our days working in church offices or not, the big problem facing us in evangelism is not that we've grown tired of the Gospel but we've grown so accustomed to it.
We have stopped desiring to hear the story preached in different ways from the pulpit every Sunday, and to explore its different applications for our lives in Bible classes, and rejoice with fellow believers in the liberating beauty and grace shown to us on a cruel cross and in an empty tomb. We are overly familiar with the Gospel message, and have forgotten the stark contrast in which it stands to every other religious story in history.
So where do we go from here? How do we re-capture our excitement and appreciation for the Gospel in such a way that it fuels our desires to tell others about it?
1. First, we need to remember what makes the Gospel unique above all other religious declarations.
The story of the Gospel, what it means, and what it offers us is not just one more religious idea or sales pitch among many, although that is what the secular world would have us believe. The Gospel says and does things that only it can do. We'll look at "3 Only's of the Gospel" in next week's post, but for now, consider this thought: Christianity is the only religion that says instead of man clamoring to reach God through meditation or good works, God instead accommodated himself to us through the incarnation of Jesus Christ, and beyond that, gave up his own life in order to achieve for us what we could not achieve for ourselves. Only Christianity preaches that message!
It is amazing how much of the Gospel's beauty comes back into sharp focus when you begin to look at it in comparison to everything else that is out there in the religious world. It can be easy to assume that all religions basically describe the same stories and teach the same concepts as Christianity, but they do not! Christianity is unique, and beautiful, in the things it pronounces, declares, and describes for us.
2. Second, we need to remember that the Gospel is not just saving us for eternity but is saving us to do and to be something today.
In the back of our minds, I think nearly all of us as Christians know and feel that Christianity speaks purpose, meaning, and hope into our everyday lives. We just don't always know how to articulate that to someone else. Yes, there is a feeling of purpose and meaning that flows from the Gospel, but there is a hard reason for that, because of what the Gospel declares! But I wonder if a lot of us are reluctant to talk about the Gospel using words like "purpose" and phrases like "meeting our deepest needs" because we fear turning it into the Prosperity Gospel of men like Joel Osteen.
Three basic questions that every human being must find answers to if they are to function in society are: Who am I? (identity) What am I here to do? (purpose) What is my value? (worth) As long as these questions go unanswered, or have the wrong answers applied to them, they will serve as obstacles for that person, interfering with their goal of flourishing and finding joy and contentment. The Gospel provides satisfying and fulfilling answers to those questions, freeing us to do and be what we were created to do and be, by our Creator! The Gospel doesn't just change things for that one future time, it changes things now.
3. Finally, we need to remember how to speak the Gospel in "heart languages" other than our own.
One of the ramifications of the previous point is that there are lots of people for whom the cross and the empty tomb have no relevance. And it's not because they're all necessarily obstinate, secularist, anti-God kinds of people...it's because they haven't heard the Gospel message in their language yet. A language like philosophy and reason, or a heart-driven emotional one, or perhaps a logical apologetic. The Gospel is the most versatile story of all- it can stand up on its own and speak to anyone's language!
But have we taken the time to think about the Gospel in any language besides our own? Sure, the Gospel can speak logically through a passage like Romans 6, but what if my neighbor's language is one that is more attuned to the heart? Can I tell the Gospel story in a way that meets her where she is? When we can, we are doing incarnational ministry, and that is a wonderful, wonderful thing.
Onward, Christian strangers...to a world (and a church) that needs to see the beauty of the Gospel.
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