What IS the Gospel?

We throw around a lot of words in our day to day lives that we do not always have a complete grasp on its meaning.  One of my favorite movies, The Princess Bride, we see one character constantly yell "Inconceivable" as the event he is stating is inconceivable is actually happening.  Which leads another character to plainly state "you keep saying that word, I do not think you know what it means".

As Christians, there are a lot of big and fun theological words we like to throw around to prove our bona fides with other believers, and hopefully appear quite smart to outsiders.  But the most important word we say, and often do not grasp fully, or explain totally, is "Gospel".

The straightforward answer to what IS the Gospel, is, Good News.  Specifically that Christ died for sinners.  And that is the greatest good news of all the good news that could have ever been news'd.  But there is a lot to it that we miss.  And when we miss the details, we are missing a richness and a power that is the engine that drives the good news.

Jesus starts His ministry in Mark 1 with this proclamation.

 15 “The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!”

"There it is" you shout.  Jesus does use the word Gospel here which is often rendered as "good news".  Do not miss though that there is a powerful context that can't be skipped over to shout "Good News".

First Part:  The time has come--The Bible describes all of creation groaning(Romans 8:22) in anticipation of God's redemption of His creation.  Jesus is announcing to those of us who are desperately waiting on redemption and healing that the promised time has come.

And what is the important context of that time arriving??

Second Part:  The kingdom of God has come near---  Jesus does not say, God has come to help you out in your life.  This is IMPORTANT.  God is KING.  And it is HIS kingdom that is coming to bring about that which creation has been groaning for.  And our first HONEST response should be FEAR.

All of Romans 2 explains why.  God is Holy and will judge all people.  There will be no place to hide.  No excuses to be made.  The kingdom of God is His and all those who are in sin will be eternally separated from God.  By God's very nature His holiness will not fellowship with sin.  When the kingdom of God comes, you are either His, or in sin, and those in sin will face what the Bible calls Hell.

Third Part:  Repent--- The Biblical word Repent is another one we often misuse.  It isn't simply a statement of "I'm Sorry"  It means an active turning FROM sin and going TOWARDS God.  This part of Jesus's call in Mark chapter 1 is that all of creation has been waiting for the Holy and Righteous King to come and establish HIS Kingdom and therefore, you and I, need to run to God and away from sin.

Fourth Part:  And believe the Good News--- Here is what the good news is really all about.  You and I are DEAD in our sins(Ephesians 2).  But Christ enters into death on our behalf, and defeats it.  In our sin and death we CANNOT run from Sin, but the good news is that Christ dives into our sin, pays our price and carries us towards the Father.

The Good News is never about what we have done in response to the coming of a Holy King who will Judge all, but it is about our inability to save ourselves and, by faith, believing in the work of Christ that has been done on our behalf.

See, no matter where you are at right now, God IS coming to establish HIS kingdom.  He is not coming to fix some stuff up for you and clean up our messes to make things more palatable for us. The Good News is that redemption is coming, and YOU can be a part of it BECAUSE of Jesus.

That is the Gospel.

The Virtue of Intolerance

If the zeitgeist of popular culture is to be believed, Tolerance is the highest ideal society must strive after.  And not just any old type of tolerance, but affirming, encouraging, never disagreeing with tolerance.  A common refrain one hears is the old canard, "we aren't supposed to judge". 

Is this sensible?

Logical?

Practical?

Of course not!

Follow the general amorphous blog of undefined tolerance to its inevitable conclusion;  No laws, no rules, no justice, total anarchy.  We do not tolerate bad behavior.  Nor should we. 

My son has a natural tendency to hit his sister over perceived slights and annoyances.  For the sake of my daughter I do not tolerate this behavior.  I correct it.  It brings about consequences for my son.  Not because I just arbitrarily decide to punish him, but because for his own sake he needs to be corrected and taught what is and is not acceptable behavior. 

Clearly when tolerance is preached from the steeples of cultural trend setters they do not surely mean that good and loving fathers must tolerate their child's inappropriate behavior?----well, perhaps some do---but they will never admit to it.

Tolerance has virtually no meaning when it is divorced from the immeasurably important value of intolerance.  And this immeasurable value is found in the basic logically consistent reality that there truly are things that are good and right and there are other things that are truly bad and wrong.  While defining the standards of either may at times be a challenge, it is not an impossible one.  If one is willing to use their brains.

If everything I have just indicated is True at all times for all people in all circumstances....Why is there such a preponderance of cries for 'tolerance', and a tolerance that seems to be void of all definable meaning and parameters?

Because it is not being used in the classical sense of the meaning of tolerance at all.

Tolerance is being patient and kind with someone even if they are wrong, or, they have offended you in some way.  And, tolerance only makes any sort of sense if it is being defined as a reflection of an active verb contrasting that you are tolerating something that is intolerable.  If it is not intolerable, than no tolerance is necessary.

I do not 'tolerate' my children's hugs, because they are not intolerable. 

But modern tolerance demands that one must not only accept what another is doing, but, that we must call it good.  To say different is to cross the unacceptable line into 'intolerable' behavior.  But again, it is impossible to BE tolerant if what you are tolerating is not intolerable originally.  And if you are not even able to express that something is indeed intolerable, how can anyone even know you are being tolerant.

It is a conundrum.


 

“You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people's feet. “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.

-Matthew 5:13-16

Do not fall victim to this worlds illogical and convoluted reasoning.  If you have been called by Christ, bought with a price, and belong to Him, you have a responsibility.  To speak truth.  To live truth.  And to do it with grace and patience. 

⁷ In everything set them an example by doing what is good. In your teaching show integrity, seriousness ⁸ and soundness of speech that cannot be condemned, so that those who oppose you may be ashamed because they have nothing bad to say about us.

Titus 2

It is sad that it doesn't go without saying.  But, even as we recognize the absurdity of the world around us.  Do not tolerate yourself, or others, dealing with it in a way that lacks grace, integrity and goodness.  No one will care about your scintillating logic and brilliant argumentation if you are a jerk. 

Be virtuously intolerant. 

 

 

Freedom to Change

In my house we don't say "stupid".  By that, I mean, we don't let our kids say it.  It is just an ugly word in the way it is often used, and so it is one of our "no-no" words. 

Problem is, I say it alllllllllll the time.  And I get called out on it.  By a four year old.  If I cannot rein in my own tongue it can cause some real problems for those who I am trying to teach.  When we don't deal honestly with our own shortcomings and problems, we invalidate ourselves.

Freedom is a wonderful thing.  A wonderful, dangerous thing.  A wonderful, dangerous, and worthy to be defended thing.  Rules do not change people, freedom changes people.  All the groundings in the world will not make my son truly love his sister(and not hit her).  The freedom to love and be loved will change his heart.  You generally do not change yourself internally by externally doing things.

Take a moment.  Think through what you believe the general public understanding of what modern Christianity in America is focused on........

Let's compare lists...here's mine:

1- Sex
2- Rules
3- Judging
4- Anti-Science
5- Anti-Women
6- Money

If you know me at all, and have read anything I have written, you know I strongly disagree with this list.  But whether or not I disagree with it, it is what it is.  Ask Joe or Jane Public on the street what they think about Christianity, that is generally what they will respond. 

So how do we combat it? 

Well, here is how we DON'T combat it...

By arguing point by point each of these false perceptions and attempting to make a watertight case for why those points are not really representative.  The way we attempt to do that actually reinforces that perception.

How?

Take the "sex" conversation....Someone is complaining that Christian's should just stay out of peoples bedrooms.  A typical response is to say, "no no no, we aren't trying to control your life at all....God designed us to experience that.....BUTTTTTT only like He prescribed, and when we ignore His instructions we only hurt ourselves...I am just trying to HELP you!".........That person says, "Well, I don't feel like it's hurting me, so shut up!"

One;  The Christian statement is not FALSE.  It is just unhelpful.

Two; Even Solomon recognized that people who do things that are wrong will often still get good things....and it can be frustrating!!  You can't say "Don't do this or bad things will happen"  Because, if bad things haven't happened yet, they won't take you seriously.

Three;  Are you realllly trying to help them?  If all mankind's destiny is the same, to stand before a Righteous and Just God, then whether or not someone did or didn't have sex outside of marriage isn't going to be the main point of contention.  When your friend has a gun shot wound, take them to the hospital, don't offer to give them a makeover!


Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, forbearance and patience, not realizing that God's kindness is intended to lead you to repentance?  -Romans 2:4

Here is what you and I need to get real about.  The Gospel is not a series of hoops that we jump through to achieve Holiness.  Paul's words here are not very gentle.  Do you show CONTEMPT????  When we boil the Gospel into a series of behaviors were acting towards God with contempt. 

What changes people?  God's kindness.  Not people's goodness.  The kindness of God is not predicated upon the receiving individuals personal behavior improvements.  But entirely rooted in the character of God.  When we reverse the direction to being kindness received upon goodness, our behavior is contemptible. 

Change comes from the freedom found in being loved.  Not forced behavior and punishment.  We inadvertently present ourselves to a watching world in a destructive and false way.  They(non-Christians) act sinfully and we(Christians) act righteously.  It makes us out to be hypocritical liars, because we DON'T act righteously.  Our hope is in God's goodness, not ours.

When I talk to my son about his behavior, he is going to have more and more reasons in his life to notice my own shortcomings.  If I present the rules to him from the perspective of "Do this, be good like daddy!" He will soon catch on to my "lies". 

Yesterday he said, "Daddy, you said stupid"

I said, "I am sorry buddy, you are right.  Daddy wants to do better because it is good for us to speak kindly.  Thanks for telling me, I want to keep working on it, just like you!"

Get honest with ourselves and others.  We are not that good either.  But God is!

Weep for Donald Sterling

“Do not judge, or you too will be judged.  For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.
           Matthew 7:1-2

As I have mentioned before, it is totally appropriate(and recommended) for Christians to "judge".  But what we are strongly cautioned about is the way we go about it.  This statement about judging by Jesus is directly connected to a vitally important addendum;  The measure you will use will be measured against you. 

Get it?  The way you go about judging and dealing with others will eventually be the same standard by which you find yourself measured and judged.  If you go around punching people because you don't like how they look, don't be surprised when you get punched for someone not liking how you look. 

If you haven't heard about the soap opera saga; "As the Sterling Turns; The Donald is a Jerk Saga", do yourself a favor and utilize some googlefu on that story.  But in a brief summation....

Donald Sterling is a billionaire who owns the LA Clippers.  Donald told his minority mistress that he doesn't want her publicly showing off that she is hanging around with black people.  Outrage by the media and the NBA led to his lifetime ban from the NBA, a 2.5 million dollar fine and basically  he has been forced to relinquish control of the NBA franchise that he bought in the 80's.  This summation does not also include his long documented history of his being a Class A jerk and racist who has been successfully sued for legal discrimination many times.(though those other issues never led to this result before) 

And it seems like the general consensus is that this is the right thing to do. 

Here is why it is actually a terrible omen for all of our futures.

1)  The conversation he had with his mistress was a private one that she recorded. 

Why is that a problem?:  Donald Sterling seems like a despicable human being.  But are we not allowed to be despicable in our private lives?  How would you like every single private conversation you have ever had with any person ever be accessible to anyone else to hear/read?  And then what you said in confidence, regardless of context, be used against you?

The measure you use against others will be used against you.

2)  He had his business stripped from him.

Why is that a problem?:  Donald did not break any laws.  But because his opinion of black people is unwelcomed(I hope we agree that it is a terrible opinion) it has apparently justified officially sanctioning and punishing him while literally stealing his privately owned business from him.  What if you worked in a company for 30 years and one day your boss found out that you held an unpopular opinion and he proceeded to fine you and fire you because he doesn't like how you think?

The measure you used against others will be used against you.

3)  He is, for LIFE, never allowed to go to an NBA event.

Why is that a problem?: 

Because we have decided we don't like how he thinks we have accepted that we can legally bar him from entering in to watch a public event in a public space(I believe all arenas are in some capacity funded in part by taxpayers and local municipalities).   How would you feel if you found your private views unacceptable by another group and they used their disagreement with you to legally bar you from public events?  

The measure you used against others will be used against you.

Don't get me wrong.  I have no problem with sponsors not wanting to give him money, or employees of his quitting in protest and fans refusing to attend his games.  That is within our rights to not associate with someone we don't agree with, nor, to give them money.  What is not acceptable is actively and overtly punishing him for views we don't like. 

Once we have accepted the premise that how a person thinks or feels justifies legal action(I know it is not the government punishing him, but how else do you define having money taken from him along with his business---is it voluntary??) then we all are at risk of being in the cross hairs.  Public opinion and subjective cultural morality is an ever moving standard.  Perhaps your views are completely acceptable today, but what if they aren't tomorrow? 

Christians should be outraged and opposed to the views of Donald Sterling(not to mention his adulterous relationships...), and they should also be outraged and opposed to a society that has deemed thought crime as reasonable standard for giving financial and professional punishments.  The slippery slope in our culture is getting steeper and steeper.  

The main message of Jesus when it comes to judging is that it is to be done fairly, gracefully and humbly.  What measure do we want to be held to?  The ever changing inconsistency of cultural whims, or, the never changing standard of God?

We should weep for Donald Sterling.  Not because he is a good guy unfairly being punished.  But because the way he has been punished, and the reasoning behind it, means that you could very well be next. 

Only a few days before his private thoughts were made public.....

Why I Judge People, and Good Christians Should Too!!

Matthew 7:1
"Do not Judge, or you too will be judged"

I looooooovvvveeee Judging people.  It is an essential part of my day.  Without it, I don't think I would be a very good parent, husband, pastor, or, pseudo-famous blogger(tens of readers daily).

One quick example of how much I love judging people;

So my son got really mad at his little sister yesterday.  She apparently was sitting too close to him on the couch.  She has a lot of nerve!!!  So, in classic big brother fashion, he hit her and pushed her off the couch. 

In the back of my head I heard that very important refrain playing on a loop, "do not judge, do not judge do not judge!!!"  But, luckily, I ignored it.  I took my son to his room, gave him a stern talking, gave him a swat on the bottom(yes, we are those parents), gave him a hug, and left him in his room for a long timeout.

You know what he has been doing recently when his sister is "bothering" him?  He gets up and goes to another room.  No more hitting(mostly). 

Do you know how idiotic it sounds when people quote this passage whenever they are trying to call out a Christian for "judging".  On a scale of 1 to super stupid, it is massively idiotic.

One thing we are really good at(in my judgment) in todays culture is proof texting snippets of scripture to bash people with.  Especially when that person is in some way speaking about Biblical convictions and Truths.

So here is where Jesus goes with the whole "don't judge" statement;

When you judge(verse 2---He is assuming you do judge), judge in the way you want to be judged.  Meaning, when you get rightfully called out on something, do you want to be smacked around, or shown grace and patience?  The measure you use for others will be the measure  you will experience. 

Right off the bat Jesus is working in the context of the daily reality of judgment.  We HAVE to use it.  You can't do much of anything in life without utilizing wise judgment.  How else are you able to tell your kid that it is wrong to hit his sister?  And as Jesus addresses this He flips the typical way we judge on its ear.

See, we love to be self-righteous and really give it to people when we catch them being wrong.  Guess what a second assumption he makes is?  You need to be judged at times as well.  Give grace when you deal with other peoples sins, and, get grace when your sins are exposed.

One of Jonathan Edwards life resolutions was to..."Act in word and deed as if nobody had been so vile as I, to live as if I had committed the same sins, or, had the same infirmities or failings as others, to confess my own sins and miser to God when I am prone to look on shame at others"

 

Jesus calls us to live in such a way as to give grace for others failings in the same measure that we are desperate to experience in the midst of our own.

 

This passage DOES NOT say, "YOU CANNOT EVER EVER EVER JUDGE".

 

Later on, Jesus adds a bit more to the process of judging others.  In verse 5 He tells us to remove our beam.  Why?  So we can remove our brothers speck. 

 

Again, Jesus is speaking in the context of His disciples actively judging sin.  And on top of being graceful about it, He teaches that unless we are willing to deal with(repent) of our own sins, we can't possibly help our brothers and sisters with theirs.

 

The comedian Kevin James once said, "Nothing is worse than receiving weight loss advice from someone FATTER than you!"  Nothing is worse than hearing judgment from an unrepentant hypocrite. 

 

Where does this leave us?

 

1)  Christians SHOULD judge and speak clearly about sin.

2)  Jesus is pretty clear, you better do it in such a way that it is dripping with Grace, patience and love.

3)  Deal with your own heart, be honest, be willing to repent of your own sins as you lovingly address your brothers.

 

Next time someone tells you that Christians shouldn't judge....Tell them they have no clue what they are talking about and read Matthew 7:1-5 with them.  Do it with love, do it with honesty.