It's fascinating to see how we in church circles have presented the "good news" of Jesus to the masses. Some have chosen to present the "You Betta" gospel...where the listener better accept Jesus or he or she will burn in hell for all eternity in torment. This is the commonly referred to "Turn or Burn" methodology that has caused so many churches to "flourish" (insert sarcasm here). With the "You Betta" gospel, people are "scared into a relationship" with Jesus. One has to wonder, how many of these "converts" were actually drawn by a transforming work of God's Spirit...or simply signed up for "fire insurance"? Now, fortunately, this methodology is not as common...(nor is the mafia technique of "so you want me to send Vinnie over to convince you's"). Hmmm, but I digress. The second presentation of "good news" is far more common, and too easy to fall prey to...it's the "You Gotta" gospel...where the listener had better "do what God wants"...after all, look at all Jesus did for you. This sense of obligation is a great tool in guilt tripping people into giving more time...more money...more church attendance...more bible reading... more meetings...more service etc...you gotta step it up...or you may not be a Jesus follower? You may not really be committed? You may not really be in line for God's blessings? Why, cause you haven't done enough. The "You Gotta" gospel taps into that common human desire to try and earn God's favor by "doing". The trap is, we somehow believe God loves me when I do right. The more I do, the more He loves me. The more I give, the more He blesses me. This vicious cycle has a flip side. When I am too tired to read my bible today...I somehow feel God is disappointed with me...or even that my day may "go bad" because of it, because I am out of His favor. When I skip church, I feel that somehow, my relationship with God is now in "critical condition" all of a sudden. If I don't give when the pastor asks for money...I won't be blessed by God and I am inviting disaster or financial ruin. The "You Gotta" gospel, is guilt ridden relationship with Jesus centered in obligation. This "gospel" is the most prevalent...and keeps many away from church and has wounded many a Jesus seeker...as it has weighed down too many with these heavy burden obligations to God. I would question both of these presentations as being unbiblical. Oh they have elements of truth woven in, but the context is all wrong. Will a person with no relationship with Jesus face hell...well, Jesus warned a lot about hell...so it must be a real concern, hello! Will God bless those who are faithful in their serving & giving...oh ya, Jesus makes it clear, time and time again, that those who are faithful with little, will be noticed and given more (in various ways). Think of it this way...I can scare someone into a "relationship" perhaps, but never really have their heart...or I can constantly measure if someone is doing enough in our relationship to be worthy and keep them on "egg shells"...but a real relationship is where my love is revealed, learned, and experienced over time and the other wants to love me back, and wants to please me, born out of an authentic heart of love. And guess what? The feeling is mutual. I would suggest, this is closer to the proper context that is found in scriptures. This is, what I call the "You Wanna" gospel...and I believe it is far more accurate biblically than the other 2 options, which are distortions of the "good news" as Jesus taught it. The "You Wanna" gospel is centered in desire. It is a desire that grows out of healthy relationship with the God, Who is Love. It is an ever growing love relationship with the God of the Universe...and as the listener comes to understand the heart of God towards them...they grow in love & understanding of Him. As one is transformed by God's Spirit revealing Himself to them in Love...they grow in a heart of love for God...and for other people. Jesus said, all the bible was summed up in this..."Love God with all you got...and love others as you love yourself." Wow, that's it? No love God or burn in hell scare tactics? No love God and do "churchey things" or miss out? No it's a journey of discovery and experience, where one grows into a deeper love of God, as they discover how incredible His love is for them. Out of that love...God's very character...Who He is...grows in us...and we too, learn to love others as He does. We don't do "stuff" cause we got to...we do it cause we "want to". We are compelled by God's love to please Him and let others know of this incredible gift. That is the "good news" Jesus proclaimed. At ECHO, we hope to be a bunch of folks that "echo" this good news of love to those within our sphere of relationship and beyond. It is a love story, far too many have not heard. Sadly, too many have been scared into "relationship"...or sold a "relationship" of obligation & duty...when in reality God presents something very different. Only love can heal those scars...genuine love...from God Himself...through us...to the wounded. May we re-present Jesus well...be God's!
Brian O
Lead Pastor dude, ECHO
4 comments:
I agree completely with all you said there... Though I also think there were some times when Jesus made it very clear that Hell was the alternative option... This leads me to believe that it is a part of the overall message, BUT, I still agree with you because the threat of Hell was only mentioned to the heard headed teachers... I don't have any other references coming to mind concerning Hell contained in The Red Letters. Therefore, I would think there is a delicate place in the Gospel for such a mention of Hell... I would think it is more for our motivation in outreach than in others motivation to accept the FREE GIFT which the Gospel sums up.
Brian Spencer
Hey Spencer-
Thanx for your comments...and yes I got your other emails...I will call you & maybe we can meet & have coffee soon.
I did want to clarify, The blog post did mention Jesus' emphasis of "hell"...I said, "Oh they have elements of truth woven in, but the context is all wrong. Will a person with no relationship with Jesus face hell...well, Jesus warned a lot about hell...so it must be a real concern, hello!"
My point was, Jesus spoke often of hell, because its a real place...and a real concern. But He didn't use hell as a scare tactic to win people...He used love to draw them into relationship with Him...so that they wouldn't be without relationship from Him for all eternity (i.e. hell). His motivation wasn't scare tactics...it was love & relationship!
Thanx for the comments...let's keep talking...see ya soon!
be God's!
Brian O
ECHO
I think a lot of the "fire and brimstone" preachers often point to Jesus' harsh tactics and point to places where he overturned the tables, or spoke to the Pharisees harshly and called them a "brood of vipers."
The big point people are missing is that these preachers are the Pharisees. Jesus didn't speak harshly to those who were honestly seeking him (like you guys have already stated). But Jesus spoke harshly to the self-righteous/self-proclaimed religious people. These "fire and brimstone" preaches are the "brood of vipers." They, often, create their list of non-biblical rules (like that Christians shouldn't drink/smoke) and tell people God would have them not drink and smoke. What frankly makes me mad is that these very preachers are often fat and have issues with heart disease only because they chose to ignore scriptures which told him to refrain from gluttony.I try to remind myself that a lot of this is people coming from a totally different generation and worldview which is what has led them to some heresies. Honestly, I pray that my sinful nature does not also lead me to heresies and because of my sinful nature, I know that I can never look at the scriptures perfectly, and I likely have some erred doctrines as well. It's simply frustrating because this previous generation/worldview has left a religious mess for us to inherit.
James-
If we center in on the simplicity of the gospel according to Jesus, we'll be OK..."love God with all you got...and love others as you love yourself". EVERYTHING hangs on this...Jesus said it! All the rest is our stuff...which we can debate & get frustrated with for our whole lifetime! But centering on on what Jesus said it "all hangs on" will keep us on track!
be God's!
Brian O
ECHO
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