The modern church has for so long, reduced the gospel. To the modern church, the entire gospel is about the death and resurrection of Jesus, and their main goal is to get as many people as possible to believe in Jesus and say a certain type of prayer so that when they die, the will go to heaven. Filling up heaven to its capacity is the main goal to the modern Christian. The gospel that I believe is much closer to the heart of God is said well in Emerging Churches:
“the good news was not that Jesus was to die on the cross to forgive sins but that God had returned and all were invited to participate with him in this new way of life, in this redemption of the world.”
An emerging leader named Dieter Zander is also frustrated with the modern/western gospel and “finds that, for most Christians, to live like Jesus is foreign to their ears. Instead, most have a church club checklist: give a little, do a little, pay membership dues, and get a ‘going to heaven’ ticket (through accepting the gospel).”
The west has reduced the gospel to a list of rules and the serving of church programs. Somehow we do get the idea that if we are on a setup team once per month and we drop a couple coins in the tithe bin and show up every Sunday, that God is happy with us and our one way ticket to heaven is stamped. The gospel of Jesus has been so tightly tangled with the church for so long, that we can hardly even think of the gospel without mentioning the church.
I also see that the church has reduced Jesus to a priority. Sure, it sounds great when we say it: “we should make Jesus our number one priority”, but I don’t think that Jesus enjoys being a priority at all. We fit Jesus right up there with our other priorities: our job, homework, taking out the trash, cleaning the house, taking a shower, flossing, paying the bills, brushing your teeth and the list goes on. I wonder how my wife would like it if I began to categorized her as a priority. I don’t think that she would like it at all. I don’t think that she would like it if I were to begin to squeeze her into my life right after I brush my teeth and before 24 comes on. My wife is not a priority of mine. I am apart of her life. I am a player in her story. She is something that I live and breath and that supersedes all priorities. We have reduced God to an activity that we have an obligation to fulfill.
The gospel is not merely concerned with our assurance in our eternal destinations, but rather about realizing that God’s kingdom has come, and joining with him in the effort to bring heaven to earth. The kingdom of God is then no longer a priority but a way of life. As Zander says “It is not just a brand-name garment I put on, or rules to follow, but an all-encompassing holistic way of life participating with God.” It is no longer exclusively tied to the church as an organization but to a people that will spend the rest of their lives being apart of the missio Dei (mission of God). We have to realize that God is alive and working and his kingdom is here on this earth now, and we have to decide if we will be a people who join in with what God is already doing in our communities and culture.
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on this note I think you’d like the book I just finished this morning. “Gilead” by Maryilyn Robinson, a novel that won the pulitzer (2004). I plan to blog about it, but what you write here reminds me of something that the Voice from the story says.
“doctrine is not belief, it is only one way of talking about belief, and the other thing being that the Greek word sozo, which is usually translated “saved”, can also mean healed, restored, that sort of thing. So the conventional translation narrows the meaning of the word in a way that can create false expectations. I thought he should be aware that grace is not so poor a thing that it cannot present itself in any number of ways.”
The writing all through is smart, compassionate and worth it.
So glad you like The Weepies
I agree with you (and Zander) that we in the west seem to balk at the call to an actual life comitted to following the example of Jesus. I also like what you said about making God a priority. This language is probably not helpful as it places God on par with the mileu of daily activities society considers to be important. God becomes a wedge in the pie chart of our lives rather than our lives becoming a vibrant snapshot or slice of his story.
In terms of the reduction of the Gospel, I also have some wonderings. But to be fair, I don’t actually know anyone who believes the statement below:
Any version of faith that remotely references Christian Scripture has to include some dialogue about becoming a disciple who does in some measure what Christ teaches. (Matt 28:19) This concept may be badly curropted by the dominant culture influenced by modernity but it certainly exists at some level.
Also to be fair, if half the stuff the Bible says about the abyss, gehenna, fire, weeping and gnashing of teeth and what not, (if hell is a real place at some level even if the scriptures are speaking metaphorically) it does seem admirable to help people not go there. I don’t think I can fault them for that.
If the Gospel could be best expressed by saying:
Then what role does the death, burial and resurection play? Why are we called by Christ through participation in the sacraments (communion and water baptism) to relate so strongly to his death? And what are we to say of those who would refuse the invitation to participate with him? Does any dialogue about “hell” play here at all?
Only other thought here is that the phrase Modern Church is pretty broad. To some, that would mean the Roman Catholic Church at the present time. To others, mainline protestants (such as episcopalians, lutherans and presbyterians) might come to mind. Many of these expressions of the modern church look to the scripture more metaphorically in general or perhaps as one of many helpful texts. They are likely to disagree entirely with the group that would see the gospels primary purpose to be bringing about a change in the place of eternal dwelling following death. (The plundering hell to populate heaven folk). I think it is helpful when we, who are challenging ideas passed to us from a theologically conservative evangelical background (one which it may be argued is largely married to the reigning plausibility structure which has been cultivated by modernity) realize that what comes to our mind when we say “modern church” is actually still a minority portion of the overall modern expression of people who would self identify as believers in or followers of Jesus.
Interesting…I can’t wait until I have the time to respond to this with some more considerate reflections.
cant wait to hear your reflections…