The Bad News Part 4: The Consequences of a Sinless Gospel--My Thoughts

Ok, I get it. My fault. I posed a question, hoping for some comments, but stated your answer would reflect your knowledge of the Gospel. Who's going to answer that one! Sorry about that. Let me rephrase. How you answer the question will tell you something about how you see the Gospel.

Here's what I'm getting at. Many people would read the accounts of Bob and Don and immediately see Don as very in need of help. Bob, to most of his friends and family, is doing fine. So, if faith in Jesus is designed to bring help in this life, obviously Don needs Jesus far more than Bob.

But that is wrong. Bob and Don both need Jesus desperately. The error is in thinking the Gospel is designed to cure life's difficulties. Jesus does not make your life better; he takes your life, throws it out, and gives you a new one. Sin corrupts our lives to the point of death, but Jesus' death in our place gives us life free from the bondage of sin; freedom to love and glorify God.

If you take sin out of the story of Jesus, then Jesus died for no reason. Many in the church today want to share Jesus, but don't want to tell anyone they are sinners deserving death. So instead, they lead with Jesus as the solver of problems and the healer of wounds. Who wouldn't want that? I'll tell you: Bob. And Don will end up hearing about a God who can solve his problems without hearing about his ultimate problem. We end up with therapeutic deism, a God-solution for those whose lives don't seem very happy.

Can you start sharing Jesus by addressing the felt needs of a person? Of course! Jesus did this all the time: the woman at the well, the blind man, the lame man who came through the roof, just to name a few. But as it was for Jesus, felt needs must be an in-road to contemplating the real issue of sin if your friend is ever to realize his need for new life, not just a happier old life.