Something Better.

So I was over at our good friends Stephen and Colleen's house getting my hair cut this morning, when Stephen and I got into a conversation about how certain people and organizations often present the gospel. We both found it fascinating that for many people a certain amount of self-loathing must be present in order to fully embrace the message of the gospel. The thought goes something like this... people need to know they are sinners and the depth of their sin before they can embrace the good news of grace and forgiveness in Jesus. Now while we were not discounting the issue of sin at all, we were wondering about this as a "presentation strategy."

I guess the question is this: To what degree do we need to make sure people "know their sin" before they can embrace the gospel of freedom and wholeness? Do we need to present "bad news" before we can present "good news"? Is this the way Jesus spoke of the Kingdom? [Side note: Isn't it interesting that Jesus never uses hell as a way of motivating people to follow him.]

It seems like the people we know all have at least some kind of sense that their lives are broken and in need of restoration and wholeness. So I guess for them the question is not about helping them realize they are "sinners in need of grace." The issue is to help them see the gospel as invitation - to something better, a life that is more whole and free.

While we were talking, Stephen made this brilliant comment...

Have you ever noticed that Jesus never made feeling bad about yourself a prerequisite for finding him? He just seemed to invite people to something better.

So perhaps a better question for people would be this: Is the life you're living working for you? Is it the best possible way to live?

Comments

[jered]

Funny you should mention this. Another blog I read of a local pastor is delving into the gospel of grace right now. We attend a different local church, but I get a lot out of Bill's writings.

The main page has three recent entries that delve into this. One of them is quite long and a couple of them have spurned extensive feedback and dialog between Bill and other readers. I think you'll find it fascinating at the very least.

In short, I don't think there are any prerequisites.

[Mike]

I didn't know you cut your hair.

[Heidi]

the interesting thing is when we present the gospel only after the lament of sin, it is strangely similar to advertising strategies that offer products as remedies for ailments we didn't realize existed until we saw the commercial. And I wonder if we try to use sin in the same way-- it becomes about validating why I believe what I believe when those we are "witnessing" to don't think they need our product to make them any happier. I like the idea that it isn't so much about fixing all of our problems but about seeking out the truth of the way we were created to live. I'm okay with talking to people about that.

[emma]

This is so timely... I've actually been having similar conversations with a couple of friends recently, sparked off by a local church here producing an inflamatory and highly biased leaflet against Rob Bell. We pretty much boiled it down to this: traditional churches in Ireland present the Gospel (their gospel?) as "hellfire, damnation, seperation" which eventually leads to "escape from this, believe in Jesus, go to heaven"; whereas Bell and many others present the Gospel (more accurately, I believe) as "the earth is not as it should be. its supposed to be a place of beauty and hope and love, like heaven, but the earth is broken... therefore if theres a heaven there must be a hell... but thats not the point, the point is joining Jesus as we seek better lives not only for ourselves but for our whole world."

[Mike]

Emma, about the leaflet... isn't it sad that the very people who claim to follow Jesus can often end up acting so unlike Jesus?

Anyway... I think you've tapped into something. The "traditional" perspective can often focus solely on individual escape from this world, whereas what I think Rob and others like N.T. Wright are saying is that salvation is not merely individual, but has a cosmic dimension. So the question is this: If we present the gospel as individual escape, do we not in fact limit the very gospel we claim to proclaim?

[jon]

i think what you have here is brilliant. it reminds me of what peter said. speaking to wives with unbeliving husbands he says, "live such pure and reverent lives that without having to say anything, your husbands may be won over to the Lord." it seems to me that littered throughout the New testament is this underlying theme of people living so differently, that lives are changed (not because they are told they're sinners but because they can see their own depravity in the love and dedication of those who follow Jesus)

[emma]

Mike, I think we do limit the gospel if we merely proclaim it in part - in fact something this leaflet used against Bell and his type was their lack of presentation on the "full Gospel"... something I feel we are all guilty of at times, and no less the producers of the leaflet in failing to present Jesus hope of salvation for everything and everyone in the earth.

I think Jon's got something too - it reminds of the saying by St. Francis of Assisi, "preach the Gospel at all times, and if necessary use words." Sometimes I fear we have lost the radicalness that it really should be to follow Jesus - this Jesus way is so counter-cultural we can't help but be different if we are really chasing after Him.

[Friar_Tuck]

This is the primary strategy of the Ray Comfort/Kirk Cameron evangelistic strategy. They base it on Romans. You have to be deeply aware of your sinfulness before you are ready to come to faith.

I am not sure I buy that.

I think a lot of the thoughts of Bonhoeffer in his prison letters, and the need to bring Christ in his weakness to speak to modern man in his strength. I think even in the most sucessful life without Christ, and maybe even more then, there is a sense of lack, of hope for something more, of wondering "is this really it?"

[Bill Giovannetti]

Hi Mike,
First time reading your blog. I really like this discussion. I read some time ago a sermon from Spurgeon--I can't find it now--but I'll keep on lookinng. Much to my surprise, he was arguing AGAINST the idea that you had to have self-loathing, or even a deep conviction of sin, in order to respond to Jesus. Just come. "Just as I am" still works for me.
Bill @ www.maxgrace.com