Fri, Oct 24th - 7:05AM

Today's Gospel

Joe the Mechanic and America’s Distorted Gospel

For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. (Rom 1:16)

 A Christian man I know owns a garage. I have some little cards with unique lettering on them. When viewed one way the word “life” appears, and when turned upside down, the same word becomes “death.” Subscripted under this word on one side, are “the wages of sin is...,” and the other way it reads, “the gift of God is eternal...” The reverse side of the card contains a very brief statement about salvation and the need for Christ, along with the Lord’s own words that, “I am the way, the truth and the life; no man cometh to the father, but by me.” Jn. 14:6 

 This card has been an excellent witnessing tool for me, and for many others who hand it out randomly to people we meet. It really gives a very succinct statement of the Gospel, though a fuller explanation is needed for the curious seeker when he reads it. The other day I handed a few of these cards to Joe, the brother who owns the garage, and suggested he put them in the customer waiting area of his facility for people to take. His bold reply was, “I would never give anything like that to my customers.” As we walked outside he began to explain to me that such “in your face” type evangelism was not his style, although he seemed to concede that the Lord might use me in such a “bold” way. Well, I accepted his defense for the time being, and left it at that. However, a few days later I walked into his waiting area, and there, nearly blocking the window into the garage bay area, the other side of which he would stand to communicate with the customers was a large poster bearing the names of McCain and Palin, the Republican candidates for the presidency. The “in your face” approach to people with God’s message of man’s need for reconciliation with Himself was “not Joe’s style.” That’s OK, I suppose. But he couldn’t see that this bold presentation of his political view was even more in the people’s faces who patronize his business. 

The inconsistency was apparent to me almost immediately. I wanted to point it out to Joe, so I asked if we could have lunch together, and he agreed. As it turned out I wasn’t able to make it for our lunch date, but later mentioned the matter to him at a business networking meeting we both attend. His defense at that time revealed very clearly to me that the Gospel message that Joe and countless other American Evangelicals believe is really a distortion of that Gospel first proclaimed by our Lord Jesus Christ and His apostles many years ago. In that brief encounter Joe informed me that not only was my method of presenting the Gospel a different “style” than his, but more so, it was an entirely different message, that a “God of love” wouldn’t foist on people. The realization suddenly dawned on me that Joe and most contemporary professors of faith in Christ believe something very different than what I, and a few others have come to base our lives upon. We all, supposedly have the same Bible, notwithstanding the distinct contrast between most of the modern versions of this Bible and the classic “Authorized Version” that many my fellow Gospel believers hold to. We all, supposedly have the same Lord and the same Holy Spirit dwelling within us collectively, as well as individually. Our messages, however are very different at their very core.

I’d like to attempt to define this erroneous contemporary American gospel here, and to contrast it with the message preached by Christ and His early disciples. Jesus’ very first words in His formal ministry were “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Matt. 4:17  The definition of the word “repent” seems to be somewhat vague in the minds of contemporary Christians, and is generally omitted from their Gospel presentation to unbelievers. There is a certain challenge to this word that is not only offensive to the world, but also intimidating to the one using it. It implies that I (being the one proclaiming the message) has, or at least intends to turn my life completely around in its direction in relation to God and my rebellion (sin) against Him. I must admit that this is a scary thought for someone who has come into one of the contemporary churches with its “seeker-friendly” and non-offensive draw. He has been led to believe that the Jesus of the Bible is really His big “buddy” in the sky, or as I saw on a teen-aged girl’s tee shirt, his “homey.” Jesus really wants to meet all of his needs, whether emotional, financial or what have you. Jesus “loves” him and would never be so rude and mean as to tell him that he has a rotten moral core, full of self-deceit and faces God’s wrath at the appointed day of judgment. But, above all, this Jesus that our Evangelical friend has become acquainted with is “caring” and has a relevant message for him. That old- time, legalistic, condemning, sin-denying, Bible-thumping message of repentance and faith may have worked for another generation, but it isn’t the pew filler today. No sir! 

What is the true nature of this alternative, modern gospel so prevalent in today’s Christian culture? First of all, it is a self-righteous gospel. The true Gospel is both a command, as well as an offer of God’s righteousness in exchange for the forsaking of one’s own righteousness. 

...but now commandeth all men every where to repent... Acts 17:30

But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; Even the righteousness of God [which is] by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference: Rom. 3:21,22

Without the mention of the requirement of repentance and faith, and the sureness of coming judgment, the Gospel message loses its power. It becomes a mere suggestion to “accept Jesus” for whatever benefits He might offer. An exchange of righteousness is fairly obscured in today's prevalent gospel.  This was certainly not Christ’s approach to the matter during His ministry upon this earth, nor was it that of Paul in his missionary endeavor. Today’s message is tailored to today’s politically-correct, non-offensive non-judgmental culture. It is not that we, as Gospel messengers should be the judges of men’s actions and thoughts, but it is the knowledge of the certainty of God’s ultimate judgment of all which propels us, with compassion for the lost. Judgment and hell are diminished in the pulpit and the marketplace today, if not absent altogether.  The need for a righteousness not our own is  foreign to our preaching today.

 Next, today’s message is pluralistic, whereas the historic, everlasting Gospel is very narrow and singular in its remedy for man’s need. The little slogan, “Try Jesus” that can be seen on bumpers is very descriptive of this pluralism. “Give Jesus a shot at fulfilling your needs and aspirations, and even curing your addictions!” Even though the exclusivity of God’s way of salvation is supposedly believed by the purveyors of this new gospel, it cannot be explicitly stated because of the offense that this idea brings to others with their solutions. Those exclusive claims made in the Old and New Testament to the singularity of the God of the universe and His specific requirement of blood sacrifice accomplished in His own Son two thousand years ago in Judea on a cross doesn’t leave any room for other ways of salvation. Even the great Billy Graham weakened on this point. He was quoted as saying that those of other faiths might go to heaven too. But the Bible doesn’t state or imply this lie anywhere. 

Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. Jn. 14:6

I heard from a former missionary to Nepal that some Hindus will accept Christ and yet still continue to worship their pagan deities as well. Could we in America be guilty of the very same thing?

Finally, today’s gospel is ineffective. This modern, imitation Jesus is supposedly the healer of our moral and emotional maladies, but really is little different than a tribal witch doctor in his ability to cure the wounds of a sin-sick soul. “He sees your pain and wants to sooth you, so let Him in to do it,” is the tenor of today’s gospel. Contemporary society has become deeply infected with the disease of self-love and all of its varied manifestations of selfishness, and we are reaping dire consequences universally. We are even being told from the pulpit that “we can’t truly love God if we don’t love ourselves.” This is, of course in direct opposition to Christ’s plain statement that one must hate his own life in order to be His disciple. Luke 14:26.  As the message goes, Jesus is the one who can heal those terrible relational wounds that we have inflicted upon ourselves and each other. This is a true statement, but not accurately presented. The cure of our moral disease can only be practically effected if the problem is correctly diagnosed and the proper spiritual surgery is undertaken. Sin is at the very heart of the problem, and is, in fact the problem, not childhood or spousal abuse, or any other external factor in one’s life. One’s own sin must be acknowledged, and properly dealt with by the blood of Jesus Christ in order for one to be truly healed spiritually and morally. When this is understood and accepted in the heart and the mind of a sinner, then, and only then will the Spirit of Christ begin to effect healing of damaged emotions and bring the comfort He promises. How aptly Jeremiah puts it:

For they have healed the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when [there is] no peace. Jer. 8:11

Now since my friend Joe can’t quote the scriptures, because that’s also “not his thing,” he has a somewhat difficult time Biblically backing up this new gospel that he silently proclaims to all those around him. I don’t want to be too hard on this poor guy, and must acknowledge that he does live a relatively clean and honest life in relation to his fellow man. But, sadly, there are throngs of relatively clean and honest living souls on their way to perdition. This is not just because of their technical ignorance of the true Gospel message, but rather it is because of an unwillingness to face the self-righteousness that lies at the very core of their being. Misunderstanding a mental concept is not the reason for God’s judgment on a person. Refusing to see one’s sin is, however sufficient grounds to condemn a soul to hell forever. I personally don’t believe that Joe is on his way to hell, but there is certainly some confusion in his mind about Christianity and its basic message to man. Unfortunately, true Christians can be deceived, and I do believe this is the case with Joe the mechanic and millions of his fellow American Christians.