The Gospel

A fellow blogger, Tim Samoff, inspired by a quote from Brian McLaren (I know I've posted a lot about him lately... bear with me) which says, "It’s very dangerous to assume you’ve perfectly contained the gospel in your little formula." I'm not sure from which book or article it comes, but Tim explains why the quote struck him, and I think his thoughts are profound:

I do understand that the gospel is not something that can be simply stated either… This has been my struggle, I guess. It would be so much easier if it COULD be stated! :) But as something that was in fact lived by Christ and which now must be lived by us, it can’t necessarily be written down or described… That would be a tremendously long book/discussion!

It is difficult when speaking to “moderns” (for lack of a better term) about the Gospel because of this. Things like “natural overflow” and “living God’s Word” and “being authentic disciples of Christ” just don’t seem to jibe well, you know? And coming from a place where the Gospel WAS easily describable in a couple of short bullet-points makes discussion even more frustrating—> like being in a conversation where you go in hoping to sway someone’s opinions, but you realize that you’re agreeing with their beliefs…

This is the next troubling part. Knowing that everything you learned previously is correct, just not…finished…as you may have believed before. Have you ever tried to talk to someone who agrees with everything that you say but just says it differently? To an outsider, it might sound more like a debate. But it’s not!

My current “dilemma,” if you will (it’s more of a constant flip-flop of internal wit than a dilemma), is the traditional view of the Gospel meaning the “rules” in which someone receives Christ as their Savior. An example being the critical view that some people might take toward a sermon they just heard: “Yeah, he was a good speaker, but he didn’t give a very solid Gospel message.” What does this mean, exactly?! If the speaker spoke about helping the homeless, wasn’t that a Gospel message? If the entire sermon was about learning how to love those who are different , wasn’t that a Gospel message? People think that because a speaker might not give an “altar call” (or something similar) it does not contain the “Gospel.”

...

I understand the nature of the Gospel because I have experienced it. I am beginning to know how important it is to view the Gospel as something that grows within us as individuals rather than something that we only hear (i.e., a statement) in hopes to get better at. I know that living the Gospel is the key rather than preaching it.

Right on.