What the True Gospel IS NOT

     "Strange, is it not, that we dare without shame to alter, to modulate the words of Christ while speaking for Christ to the ones for whom He died?  Christ calls men to carry a cross; we call them to have fun in His name.  He calls them to forsake the world; we assure them that if they but accept Jesus the world is their oyster.  He calls them to suffer; we call them to enjoy all the bourgeois comforts modern civilization affords.  He calls them to self-abnegation and death; we call them to spread themselves like green bay trees or perchance even to become stars in a pitiful fifth-rate religious zodiac.  He calls them to holiness; we call them to a cheap and tawdry happiness that would have been rejected with scorn by the least of the Stoic philosophers."         - A.W. Tozer

     It is very popular nowadays to speak out against American Christianity, and for good reason. Some of the criticism is well-placed and some is not. Some of it is out of the right spirit and some is not. In this post I want to explore for a few moments one of if not the most tragic problem of American Christianity - the true Gospel not being preached, and thus not being lived.

    I have been told there are currently more missionaries to America than from it. That believers in other cultures look grievingly at our version of Christianity and are convinced we don't know what the true form looks like. That these believers would agree with one missionary who stated that "America is not gospel-hardened; she is gospel-ignorant." I don't know for certain whether those missionary stats are true, but I believe without a doubt that the heart of the problem is. I think we don't, as a whole, really know or preach the Gospel. And I believe the true Gospel is not preached for two main reasons. One is our lack of rightly dividing the Word of God and being good and faithful stewards of what it truly teaches.  The other is our view of God.

     One thought that kept resounding in my spirit repeatedly when I was at home Sunday night is this - we simply don't know the Word of God. Now that is a broad statement to be sure, but what I mean is that nearly all of our problems stem from the fact that many of us don't truly know the Word of God and what it says for our lives.  We are not feeding deeply and satisfactorily on it daily for our portion, nor are we diligently studying it. This is a concept I want to post on in detail at a later date. However, I simply wish to point out for now that of all the endless problems that arise from our neglect of knowing the Scriptures, one most tragic result is that we end up with very lopsided views in our theology by leaning on the Scriptures that we do know or that we like and thus choosing to remember over other ones. This leads to believing and preaching a distorted Gospel.

     Secondly, our view of God. A.W. Tozer rightly predicted that a person's view of God would determine the outcome of their spiritual life and the course of their entire existence. How high or how low, how kind or how angry, how holy or how carnal our view of Him will determine how we respond to Him and to others. And it will shape everything about our theology.

      I personally believe the American view of God is the lowest, most carnal, most comfortable view of God ever held in any generation. He is preached more as a "buddy" than the "Holy and Anointed One", as our "homeboy" instead of the "All-consuming fire" that is to be greatly feared, and as the trite companion or "pal" of anyone who would stoop to give Him the time of day instead of the faithful and loving "Friend" to all who would obey Him and keep His commands.  Without  a doubt we have lost the awe-inspiring, majestic, lofty view of God that used to leave our forefathers breathless before an Eternal King. And where the fear of the Lord and the vision of God is lost, corruption and deception will sink in. It wasn't until the holy prophet Isaiah caught a true glimpse of the glory of God that he simultaneously saw the depths of his own sin and need for God. Thus, as Ravenhill used to point out, when we lose sight of the holiness of God, we lose sight of the depravity of man. And this leads to a Gospel, the likes of which preached in America, that is humanistic to the core. Where, as David Platt points out, man is now the object, and not God.  Southern Baptist Missionary Paul Washer even goes so far as to state that the greatest hour of idolatry in America every week takes place on Sunday mornings, where most people worship a "God" that just doesn't exist. And while I find this view a bit extreme, it is hard to escape the conclusion that while a small remnant of a few determined souls dare, like Moses, to ascend the mountain touched with thunder and lightning to behold the One who dwells in unapproachable light, the great carnal majority who labels themselves to be Christians are far too content to remain at a safe distance at the foot of the mountain, eventually gathering gold with Aaron to form a more "manageable deity" (as Bevere once labeled it),  and call it Jehovah.  Out of this type of community emerges a weak, deceived, and seeker-sensitive culture.  And out of this culture emerges a watered-down Christianese-style message that I believe the Apostle Paul would have written off as "another gospel."

     It is because of these two reasons that I believe we have lost the power of the Gospel. Now I don't claim to be anywhere close to an expert on the Gospel. In fact, I feel like I'm just now starting to learn what it is for the first time. And I agree with Washer that it is the greatest mystery - that though our eschatology will be cleared up the moment Jesus returns, we will spend an eternity of eternities trying to comprehend the beauty and mystery of the Gospel - a mystery in which angels long to look.

     But I think this is so important. There is much trivia the church fusses and splits over these days, from the color of carpet to the detail of a doctrine that none of us will fully comprehend until eternity. But I also agree with Washer that when it comes to the Gospel, there are no truces to be sought out and no compromises between the two camps. Either we preach the Gospel correctly or we don't. Spurgeon once said that true conversion is "as real as a man ground into a mill and made new again." But if there is to be true supernatural regeneration by the Holy Spirit, it will rarely come except a true Gospel be anointedly preached. If there is anything we need to study and know and pray over, it is the core of the Gospel. I want to know it. I want to live it. I hope this post doesn't come off as uncharitable or judgmental, or simply another cursing of the darkness to stroke my ego. God knows if anyone is in need of mercy and enlightenment it is me. But we are warned in the epistles to "pay close attention to your doctrine." And if there is any doctrine we need focal attention on, it is the Cross and the Gospel of Jesus Christ. That we were born in sin with the wrath of God upon us, destined for eternal destruction, but Christ took our physical and spiritual punishment, and had the cup of God's wrath poured out on Him that we may stand justified before a holy God, cleansed by royal blood. And not only that, but to be forgiven and set free and cleansed from the curse of sin. Given life. Brought from dark to light. Granted entrance into the Kingdom. Have the veil ripped that the awful separation from God's Presence might be breached so that we could have intimacy with our Maker again. It is the most glorious good news this world could ever hear.  And there is so much to it, we could talk for a century and not scratch the surface.

     The truth is, no one has it all figured out, but I believe a more honest and searching look into the Bible will leave us with some absolute certainties about what that the Gospel IS and IS NOT.

    The true Gospel is NOT a message of self-improvement; it is a message of self-denial. The true Gospel does NOT simply declare the joy and necessity of forgiveness at the foot of the Cross, but also declares the imperative of obedience to pick up a cross, and the necessity of death to self on that cross.  The true Gospel does NOT view sin as an unfortunate disease by which we all need help; it views sin as the heinous crime against the Sovereign and Almighty God by which we all stand wholly guilty and condemned before Him with only the coming wrath to look forward to, lest we throw ourselves upon the finished work of Christ and be changed from the inside out by Him.  The true Gospel does NOT urge people to merely repeat  a sinner's prayer like a flu shot by which they then have an nonrefundable ticket to heaven; it urges them as the Holy Spirit deals with their hearts to believe on Christ and wholly surrender to Him, the evidence of their salvation being the ongoing fruit of their life and growing in the Lord.  The true Gospel, while it joyfully exclaims all of the riches that we have in Christ, never puts the accent on the benefits and blessings, but instead emphasizes the glory of knowing God and experiencing Him. Thus the true Gospel will reproduce mature and steady disciples who serve God for who He is and not for what He can do for them. The true Gospel is NOT simply a soft, sugary-sweet, sentimental message of "you are loved" but also a fiery, tearful message by which prophets lovingly declare "you are lost." The true Gospel will never try to entice by only offering attractive messages to the masses in order to gain a seeker, but will always boldly declare in love the complete counsel and truth, even if they walk away on us like they did Jesus when He uttered such hard sayings. The true Gospel will always be most concerned with our holiness, not our happiness. The true Gospel does NOT merely coax people into accepting Jesus as Savior without also accepting Him as Lord and Master. The true Gospel is not a plea that someone allow Jesus to be a part of their life; it is an ultimatum to either reject the message or allow Jesus to consume and control their life. The true Gospel is not an offer of greater peace of mind so that one may enjoy the world; it is a transforming by the renewal of our mind to separate ourselves from the system of this world in order to embrace the greater and invisible world. The true Gospel does NOT offer a better life; it reveals that we are dead in sin and are living corpses who need to be made alive with Christ and completely born again - and when that really happens, we learn that "if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature." And we learn that that is more than poetry, but a mere declaration of the facts of what happens when a man or woman is truly converted by the Holy Ghost.

     The true Gospel - it is the power of God unto salvation. Let's learn it, believe it, live it, and preach it.

* - I want to acknowledge Tozer, Washer, Bevere, Ravenhill, and even Platt and Piper as much of my spiritual philosophy on this subject I owe to the influence of their teaching, along with the ultimate authority - the Bible. We are all largely shaped - for good or bad - by the influence we subject ourselves to and because of that, at times I don't know where some of my phrasing and thoughts ends and theirs begins - and so I offer apology if there is ever any subconscious plagiarism of any sort, I want them to have credit.

** - I repeat, though I speak passionately on the subject, I, of all people, am most in need of the grace and mercy and wisdom of God! And I want the humility and strength to live out His Word.

*** - I also want to say how humbled and honored I am to be a part of a Gospel-driven church and to have a godly, compassionate, and anointed Pastor from whom I can learn God's truth and watch his example.

Until the next monster post,

Russ