Just below is an excerpt from a recent interview we did with Skye Jethani, managing editor of Leadership journal. Take a moment to give it a read and then answer this question: Concerning preaching the gospel, to which school of thought do you associate yourself and why? If neither is a good fit, how would you describe your particular school thought?
Preaching Today: A number of Christian authors, pastors, and theologians are raising critical questions about our understanding of the nature of the gospel. What do you think has stirred such passion?
Skye Jethani: A lot of passion has been fueled by the angst produced from conversations about how to reach younger, postmodern generations. Two schools of thought emerged from the beginning. One group opted for the conservative approach: we just need to be more relevant, repackaging the same gospel message in a manner or style that's going to be appealing to the next generation. Another group insisted the church needed to go deeper than repackaging the content. They felt we needed to rethink the content. A lot of today's conversations about the gospel were born out of the early tension between the two schools of thought.
Our gospel arsenal is a lot bigger than it used to be. We can choose to preach the Good News from a number of different angles, according to the audience we've been given.These two groups were not unlike the two groups that formed during the modernist/fundamentalist split that happened a hundred years ago. Think about the massive cultural changes that were going on: Darwinism, Marxism, textual criticism of the Bible, psychology. Many Christians looked at that tangled mess and concluded they needed to adjust the gospel. In doing so they ended up forming mainline, liberal theology. The fundamentalists among them said, "I don't care what's happening to the culture. The gospel's the gospel, and we're not changing it!"
It's quite similar today. One side prides themselves on not changing the gospel but only the style in which it is preached. In their eyes, anyone who adjusts their perspective on the gospel represents a new liberalism. The other side responds with a certain degree of disdain over what they feel is stodgy fundamentalism blind to its own modernist bias.
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Posted by Brian Lowery at 9:11 AM on May 27, 2008
Comments
It's funny because my own personal journey in understanding the "gospel" and the way I preach it follows much the same pattern as Jethani describes. For me it started with Dallas Willard and the Divine Conspiracy. That book rocked me. It's been almost 10 years since I read it and I still go back to it all the time. The people I work with are interested in eternity, I think we all are. But more than that, they want to know that the gospel matters today. I think McLaren's Everything Must Change is an important book in this discussion. Whether or not you agree with his conclusions, he asks two pivotal questions in that book over and over. What are the biggest problems in the world? and What does Jesus have to say about them? In other words, is the gospel really good news? Is it good news for the HIV+, not just because one day there's heaven. Is it good news now? I think any preaching of the gospel must deal with the practical every day stuff of life. It must address global issues. It has to be about more than getting myself into heaven.
Posted by: Jeremy Copeland on May 27, 2008
Good News = Jesus! I don't care how you say it, package it, sing it, yell it from the mountain tops. It is Jesus who is the good news. I do my utmost to preach Him and Him alone.
Posted by: Troy Maxwell on May 27, 2008
The "gospel" I was first introduced to was "pray this prayer asking Jesus to forgive your sins, and you'll go to heaven when you die." Period.
A few years later now, I see that's the "gospel" in about the same way a pencil sketch of Jesus is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
There might be similarities, but it's hardly the same experience. The all-consuming gospel of grace is about oh-so-much more than just forgiveness of sin. It's living each day aware of God's presence and reign; it's becoming like Jesus in both life and death; it's about being led by the Spirit.
Is that the same gospel?
Is a little square of wedding cake the same thing as a wedding feast?
Posted by: Chad on May 27, 2008
N.T. Wright really helped me see the panoramic side of the Gospel in Simply Christian. Beauty, Justice, Relationship, and Spirituality are all included in the Gospel and everything we do in Christ is Gospel. I love that because it has helped me live every moment with great life and peace knowing that every minute of the day is valuable. Any push back? would love to hear it.
Posted by: Nate on May 28, 2008
Actually, Nate, those are my thoughts exactly: Beauty, Justice, Relationship, and Spirituality. Wright has really helped me establish some pillars for an extended gospel ministry. I'm tempted to add a fifth pillar - Truth - but I think Wright's point is that the four blur into that grander idea of simple truth established in the Christ.
Posted by: Connor on May 28, 2008
John 14:6 - It is all about Jesus. He, alone, is "The Way, The Truth, and The Life!" We really do not have the time to waste arguing/debating whjat the Gospel should be by the way this person percieves it or that person wants it to be? It is time to be about "The Fathers" business and bring glory to "Our Lord" who we know as Jesus (who is to be our All in All). Everyday, people are perishing, suffering, and in dire need of the Good News of Jesus. We are to be obedient and go forth with this "Good News" and as Children of the King allow "the Holy Spirit" to work in and through us. Time is of the essence and the way things are currently shaping up our own Nation is being exploited by unbridled greed and our own people are in dire need of the one and only true Gospel. Turn your eyes upon Jesus and stay focused on Him.
Posted by: Rev. Dr. Fred M. Lassonde on May 29, 2008
I, too, have been heavily influenced by both Dallas Willard and, more recently, N.T. Wright. If you resonated with Wright's "Simply Christian", you should really pick up "Surprised By Hope", which goes much further in articulating both the fullness of the gospel and why it matters now.
Posted by: Scott on May 29, 2008
The gospel is the good news about salation by grace through faith made possible by the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. There is no way to change that fact. All of the rethinking that we might do cannot change the truth of Jesus dying on the cross for our sins.
Posted by: Les Dennis on June 3, 2008
For me the gospel is best summed up by the phrase "full of grace and truth" in John 1:14. The gospel is the grace of God brought to us thru Christ's death and resurrection that enables us to receive and live the transforming truth of God. The grace frees us and the truth transforms us. It is both/and not either/or.
Those who proclaim grace without truth produce converts who often leave the moral and ethical standards of God and still call themselves "Christian". These converts cloud the person of God before others. Those who proclaim truth without grace produce converts who often become legalist and judgemental. These converts, also, cloud the person of God before others.
I believe the scripture teaches us that we are saved to experience, love and illuminate God. Part of the illuminating of God is the loving of others. Grace and truth enable us to do all this. That is why our Lord Jesus was full of grace and truth.
The implication of "grace and truth" runs much deeper than we can talked about here.
Posted by: Mike Gay on June 4, 2008