The gospel according to.... (revised 1-22-11)

Being the glutton for punishment that I often am, I was reading through someone's blog today who seems to believe that their calling in life is to find and point out what is wrong with people.  I used to read these posts and boil and fume and wonder why with all the good that God is hard at work at in our world, would someone need to make it their life focus to try and point out all that is wrong?  I don't really get angry anymore, it's more of a sadness...anyway...

This blogger made a statement,
"(Insert name of semi-popular pastor/author here) makes me mad because he preaches an anti-gospel. He craftily does this by portraying the essence of Christianity as following Jesus and treating people the way Jesus did. While this is important, living the “Jesus life” is not the essence of Christianity and neither is obeying the commands of Jesus (as important as that is). The essence of Christianity centers upon the work of Christ on behalf of sinners (i.e. substitutionary atonement)."


This hit a little close to home as I too have been accused of preaching an 'anti-gospel' in our little community, and for the same reasoning.  It also hits close to home because if you have ever listened to pastor Brian on a Sunday morning or been a part of a bible study that he has led then you will have clearly heard him present the gospel as simply, and I quote, "Trust Jesus."


"The essence of Christianity centers upon the work of Christ on behalf of sinners (i.e. substitutionary atonement)."


The difference in these views comes down to a 'limiting' of the gospel as opposed to an 'anti' gospel.  Understanding the gospel in terms of it centering upon the work of Christ on behalf of sinners is to take one element of His life, albeit a profoundly important and beautiful element, and saying this is all that matters; this, I would say, is a limiting of the gospel.  Understanding the gospel in terms of "Trust Jesus" is to not merely look at His work, but instead to take the entirety of His life into account, including, of course, His work on behalf of sinners.  This is by no means an "anti-gospel," and by no means a limiting of Christ's gospel to one event in His life (however profoundly important, crucial and beautiful it may be).  There is no room to denigrate and play down the importance of the cross in our lives; there is however, much room to elevate the entirety of Christ's life, including His death and resurrection, in all of our lives.

I have to say that this is very clearly the language of the entire New Testament also.  If you look, there are only eleven references to the cross from Acts through Revelation; ten from Paul in the entirety of his writings, and one in Hebrews.  There are only 19 separate references to the death of Christ from Acts through Revelation.*

The rest is about His life, His resurrection, the lives we are meant to live in Him, stories of those who are and who are not living His abundant life, how we are to interact with one another in His life, what His life looks like in us, what His life produces in us, and on and on and on.

In the beginning God created a heaven and a earth just as He wanted it.  He created a man and a woman just as He wanted them to be to live in and experience this heaven and earth.  He called this "Very Good!"

Not long after, this man and woman decided that they knew better than Him.  They chose to follow their own way and not live in His abundant life.  This has been the choice provided to all of mankind ever since.

There is a new beginning in Jesus.  Jesus came to show us how to have life and live it abundantly.  He overcame the power of sin and death by way of His own death and resurrection and we can now identify with Him by dying to our selves, our own way of living and instead trusting Him for new life, a new way to live; eternal life.

Jesus' gospel is to trust Him, the entirety of His life, so that we might return, starting now and for all eternity, to the abundant life that He created in the beginning.

This is the gospel according to Jesus, according to Paul, according to the entire New Testament, according to God's plans set in motion throughout the Old Testament...Trust Jesus.


(*I had to revise my first post as I found more references, although the few more I found do not change the truth of the statement.  I must insist again, this realization does absolutely nothing to denigrate the cross!  It is, without question, one of the most beautiful and powerful moments in all of human history.  What it most certainly does demand though, is for us to reconsider whether we have given enough attention to Jesus' life, both before and after the cross.  


I would be happy to discuss the specific passages that I am referencing, and there is much more additional insight that can be gained from the context of these passages (how His death is referenced, what surrounds the reference to His death, the purpose of His death, the benefits of His death.)  In every reference, the point always returns to His available life.)

Boiling It Down

As I have been attempting to read through Isaiah without the assistance of my "preconception" goggles, I have been noticing things I haven't seen before.  I suppose that makes the kind of sense that registers pretty high on the "Well Duh!" scale.  If you are looking for specific things in a reading, than those are the things you are most likely to see; those things and probably not much else.

It seems that over and over again throughout Isaiah, God expresses His deep disdain for a self advancing or self preserving mind set.

Excerpts from Isaiah 5:

Woe to those who join house to house,
     who add field to field,
until there is no more room,
     and you are made to dwell alone
     in the midst of the land...

Woe to those who rise early in the
          morning,
     that they may run after strong drink,
who tarry late into the evening
     as wine inflames them!...

Woe to those who call evil good
     and good evil,
who put darkness for light
     and light for darkness,
who put bitter for sweet
     and sweet for bitter!
Woe to those who are wise in their own
          eyes,
     and shrewd in their own sight!
Woe to those who are heroes at drinking
          wine,
     and valiant men in mixing strong
          drink,
who acquit the guilty for a bribe,
     and deprive the innocent of his right!...

I don't think I'm simplifying this too much when I begin to see a pattern emerge here.  When I begin to lift myself up, my own:
needs
desires
care
security
safety
advancement
wealth
entertainment
prosperity
quality of life
etc, etc, etc...
then what I am not engaged in is exalting God or caring for my neighbor, my fellow man.  And this is what God despises.

Jesus Himself boiled it down beautifully in Mark 12 when asked what He believed to be the greatest commandment, "...you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.  The second is this: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.  There is no other commandment greater than these."

So what is God's response to pursuits of exalting myself?  Back to Isaiah 5:

Surely many houses shall be desolate,
     large and beautiful houses, without
          inhabitant.
For ten acres of vineyard shall yield but
          one bath (about 6 gallons),
     and a homer of seed shall yield but an
          ephah (about 3/5 bushels)...

Man is humbled, and each one is
          brought low,
     and the eyes of the haughty are
          brought low...

...and nomads shall eat among the ruins
          of the rich.

God will not settle for playing second to anything.  Throughout Exodus and Deuteronomy and Joel and Zechariah we see references to God being jealous.

Jealous?

Isn't jealousy petty, something we look down on as weakness based in insecurity in our society today?

In this context it simply means that God will not stand for anything or anyone taking His place.  Why?  Because of His insatiable love for us.

We were created for relationship with Him.  It is how we are intended to function.  To settle for anything less is to damage our soul, our very being.  It is to settle for being less than human.  God will not stand for that.  He will not stand idly by while we destroy ourselves.  He will never agree to be second, or worse, in our lives.  He is jealous.  And so love reigns supreme.  God's desire, when we boil it down, is that we love Him with all our heart, mind, soul and strength, our entire being, and we love our neighbor, our fellow man, as ourselves.  Again, Isaiah 5:

But the Lord of hosts is exalted in
          justice,
     and the Holy God shows Himself holy
          in righteousness.

Justice and righteousness.  Justice being in our right living with mankind and righteousness being in our right living with God.  Both of which are the polar opposite to living for myself.

I can't help but wonder what our communities might begin to look like were justice and righteousness to be the order of the day.  Where God is exalted and where my neighbor has no need.  Would that be a safe place to be?