Do You Believe The True Gospel

I recently responded to a Facebook post with some real words and not just a like, thumbs up or :) (not something I normally do). The statement that got me so "moved" was this...and I quote...

"I heard it said once, the social gospel is great, it builds roads, schools and hospitals, but, how much better is the TRUE Gospel that saves men from Hell?"

Whenever I read something like this my stomach starts to turn, kind of like when my Haitian amoeba, that I happen to share a stomach with, begins doing back-flips. This is one of those statements that just rankles my cerebrum. Why? Because in a way the guy is not totally wrong but at the same time he is totally wrong. When the our un-churched friends look at churchydom today they tend to group us in one of two camps. There are the hippie do-gooder churches that are soft on preaching but do a bunch of great things in the community...and then there are the hardcore "drill Sargent" type, fundamental Bible thumpers that know they have the truth and will be glad to shove it down your throat as soon as they meet you. Now my Facebook friend may not put himself into the second category but I would wager that most of his un-churched neighbors have never seen the true gospel.

So with that intro...here's the lowdown on the "True" gospel.

As with many difficult modern day "church" issues this one has its roots in the modernist-fundamentalist showdown that took place in the early 20th century. At that time liberal theologians were restricting the modern significance of Jesus Christ to ethical considerations, ie. meeting human needs while downplaying the spiritual needs of man. Liberal theology focused on the good works of Christ and remade the "gospel" into a "meeting the material needs of humankind" gospel. The fundamentalist group chose to emphasize the proclamation or preaching of the gospel ie. salvation through faith in Jesus Christ preached to every creature. So in response to the liberal churches' left turn toward mercy ministries, fundamental churches responded with a farewell to mercy ministry and a hard right and full steam ahead approach into hell-fire and damnation preaching ministry. (This last statement is said somewhat tongue in cheek, recognizing there are the exceptions whenever speaking about large ecclesiastical groupings).

The truth is that while good works will never save a single soul, faith without works is dead and we know dead faith...what is it good for? Absolutely nothing. We are now seeing churches that are practicing both mercy ministries and proclamation with amazing effects. We can think of it as the two hands of the gospel. 1) salvation by grace through faith in Jesus Christ and 2) consideration of the material well being of people. In the New Testament we find that it is not an" either/or" but a "both/and" proposition. To be a true follower of Jesus Christ we must practice good works or "love our neighbors as ourselves" and love them enough to teach them all that Jesus taught.

Just in case you're still not convinced let's look at the ministry of Jesus and the apostles which were ministries of both word and deed.

Ministry of Jesus:
Healing (Matthew 8:16, 12:22, Luke 4:40)
Feeding (Matthew 15:32-39, John 6:4-13)
Delivering (Matthew 9:32-34, 12:22)
Preaching/Teaching (Matthew 5-7, Mark 1:14, Luke 20:21, John 6:59, 18:20)
Other teachings (Matthew 9:35, 10:7-8, Luke 19:1-10)

Ministry of the Apostles:
Mercy Ministry (Acts 2:44, 3:1-9, 4:34-37, 5:16, 6:1-6, 8:7, 9:34, 28:8-9
Preaching (2:14-44, 5:17-42, 5:42, 7:1-53, 8:4, 13:16-41, 17:22-31)

Wow, if you took the time to read just half of these scriptures I know that you have been blown away by how these two hands of the gospel worked (and still work) in unison. I am convinced that those we seek to reach are looking for Christians that are showing their faith by their works. (James 2:14-18 What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him? If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food, And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit? Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone. Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works.)

In the next post we will see that this two sided ministry of Jesus was not some new part of God's nature that was unrevealed to the Old Testament saints. But God has consistently demonstrated his love through both word and deed.

Normal Christianity

"Satan has us convinced to just stay put - You've got good music, good preaching, you need to grow a little bit more first. You go to all the services, you give, you give to missions, you're good. But the job of the church is to go right into the enemy's territory, not hide behind our comforts. . . . The normal Christian life is to push the enemy back - it's what we're doing right here. This is the normal Christian life." (said in Cape Verde West Africa)

The Right Reverend R.B. Snoddy :)

Is Your Church Cumbering the Ground?

There is . . . no place today for a Church that is not aflame with the Spirit who is the Lord and Giver of life, nor any value in a theology; which is not passionately missionary. If there throbs through the Church the vitality of a living union with Christ—and apart from this the Church has no claim to exist, no right to preach, it is merely cumbering the ground—if the Church can indeed say "It is not I who live, it is Christ who lives in me," then the dark demonic forces of the age have met their match, and the thrust of life is stronger than the drift of death. A Church that knows its Lord and is possessed by its Gospel cannot but propagate creatively the life that is has found. A Christian who is taking his faith seriously cannot but evangelize.

("A Faith to Proclaim”, James S. Stewart, p. 11,12 Regent College Publishing , 2002)

Back to the Basics

In our day there is a great need for the followers of Jesus Christ to get back to the Bible and the truth contained therein. This is a call to return to Biblical Christianity...

Biblical Christianity is the law convicting of sin. It’s God using men and women of great faith to impact the world for eternity. It’s God becoming flesh and living among us, so we could behold His glory. It was a hill called Golgotha and a Savior beaten beyond recognition being nailed to the cross; the sinless Lamb of God being sacrificed for sinful humanity. It’s an empty grave and a risen Lord! It’s His ascension back to the Father and the promise He will return again in like manner. It’s His last command to teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. It’s Paul on the road to Damascus being totally changed. It’s Steven preaching the gospel to those that hated him so much that they stoned him, as he saw Jesus standing at the right hand of the Father. It’s a counsel held in Jerusalem to straighten out the legalist teachers. It’s Peter, John, Phillip and Steven preaching to the Jews. It’s Paul, Barnabas, Silas, Mark, Timothy and Luke going into the Gentile world. It’s getting the gospel from Jerusalem into Judea, Samaria and the uttermost. It’s the number being added to daily such as should be saved. It’s the number of saved being multiplied and then the number of churches growing exponentially. It’s teams of early followers risking their lives, being beaten with rods and whipped and stoned and thrown out of town, all for the sake of the glorious gospel! It’s going to Paphos, Antioch, Iconium and Lystra. It’s the Macedonian call to Troas, Philippi, Thessalonica, Berea, Athens and Corinth. It’s writing the new churches in Thessalonica from Athens to confirm foundational truths, exhort them to be holy and to comfort them. It’s letters of rebuke and return visits to straighten out “new” issues among believers. It’s committing the gospel to faithful men, who will be able to teach others and encourage them in their ministries. It’s looking forward to the soon return of Christ but not failing to preach the word; being instant in season and out of season. It’s reproving, rebuking and exhorting with all longsuffering and doctrine. It is a trail of suffering and bloodshed that began at the cross and has followed every true believer throughout history. It is men and women willing to give their all for the one that gave His only begotten Son, the precious Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world!

Topics like sacrifice, bloodshed, beatings, suffering cold and hunger for the sake of the gospel don’t play to well with the average Christian in the States today. It’s not the kind of message that will draw a crowd. The crowd wants to see Jesus do another miracle, they want a healing or to be fed. Jesus lost a lot of followers when His preaching turned to denying oneself, and taking up your cross, and following me, or when he said to go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and come and follow me. It’s not the inspirational message most "Christians" want to hear, but it, and only it, is the kind of Biblical Christianity that will get the gospel to the ends of the earth in 54 AD or 2006 AD.