How clear is your gospel presentation?
Here's a great post on the importance of clearly presenting the gospel:
"The great Apostle Paul asked the believers of Colosse to pray for his gospel presentation to be as clear as possible. Wow.
If Paul needed prayer for to ensure a clear proclamation of the good news, how much more do we? This is the same brilliant and determined disciple who baffled the Jews after his conversion with his inarguable arguments for the grace of God. This is the same one-of-a-kind writer who penned the salvific books of Romans and Galatians, the Constitution and Declaration of Independence of the Christian faith. Yet, in spite of all his qualifications to preach the gospel, he asks for prayer to be clear as he presents this simple, yet astounding message." MORE -->>
I love you
Jeremiah 2:25, “I have fallen in love with these foreign gods, and I can’t stop loving them now!”
There’s a common philosophy that if you love someone, or something, then your love makes it OK. That is, love becomes the highest good. In the verse above, Judah justified turning away from God because of her love for other gods.
Practically, this philosophy is often seen in sexual relationships, both hetero- and homo-. People will justify going outside of God’s parameters for healthy sexual relationships based on the love they feel for the other person. “I love him/her, so it must be OK.”
GOD IS LOVE AND HE WANTS ME TO BE HAPPY
You will often hear people say that God is love, therefore, he wants me to be happy. In other words, Why would a loving God deny (forbid) the love I have for the other person, regardless of what his word says? “I know the Bible forbids adultery, but I love him so much, he makes me happy, and he “completes” me, so it must be OK to divorce my husband and leave my kids.”
This kind of thinking makes our love the ultimate measure of morality. And since love is subjective, that measuring line will move with each person. What’s important to remember is that GOD is love. His love is perfect, our love is imperfect. In fact, our hearts our deceived, darkened, and easily led astray.
God’s ultimate goal is not our happiness, it’s our salvation. Yes, salvation from sin, but more specifically salvation from looking to people and things for our salvation, which is idolatry. Love is a good thing, but when we turn it into an ultimate thing, it becomes an idol.
When we truly begin to realize what God did for us through Jesus, the direction of our love begins to shift off of ourselves and what we want, and begins to shift more and more to God. That God did for us what we couldn’t do for ourselves in offering salvation through Christ alone, by his grace alone, through faith alone, begins to fill us with love for God which shows itself in obedience.
In the end, it’s not about my love, it’s about HIS love.
The “ageless” gospel
With so much pressure to be new and innovative in ministry, let's not forget that the message of the gospel is not new or an innovation. In fact it's ageless. Romans 1:1, 2 says the gospel was promised beforehand. OK, can we get some clarity on "beforehand"? Sure. Titus 1:2 says the gospel was promised before the ages, and 2 Timothy 1:9 says the gospel existed before the ages began. What Paul is saying in Romans is that the gospel is ageless.
So what does this mean?
• It means salvation originates and begins with God. That is, the gospel is not man-made.
• It means the gospel is eternal. Created, finite beings cannot devise a plan for eternal salvation. (Although mankind has always tried to make his own plan for salvation apart from Jesus.)
• It means the gospel it beyond space and time; it transcends it. In other words, the gospel is relevant to any culture in any age. We don't have to make the gospel relevant.
I think the last point is important. The gospel doesn't need to be made cool, hip, or relevant. It doesn't need to be dressed up and packaged. The gospel cannot be bent to fit the culture, nor should it "emerge" into something "better".
The gospel is the same yesterday, today, and forever - it's ageless. Let's preach the gospel for it's God's power for salvation. Let's trust the gospel and not innovation to save.
Gospel-driven ministry
Some good thoughts on ministry/church practices...
Gospel 101 from Sojourn Community Church on Vimeo.
Center of the Gospel
Re-reading A.W. Tozer's Man: The Dwelling Place of God. I appreciated his thoughts on how Christ is often presented as a "a cure to ills, a way out of troubles, a quick and easy means to the achievement of personal ends." The problem with this is selfish gain becomes the center of the gospel.
If Jesus is all about making our lives better, then why just Christianity? There are lots of other belief systems, faith practices, gurus, and techniques that can improve our lives.
The gospel is not about what we get, it's about what Christ has done. Jesus is the center of the gospel not us.
All Christ-followers are commanded to share the gospel, but let's be careful that we don't present the gospel as a benefits package, or a new and improved product. We are not salespeople, we are messengers.
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