What the Gospel Is (Christianity from the inside 4.0)
After spending so much time talking about what the gospel is NOT (very Cat in the Hat) in terms of mistakes I made on my own journey, I would feel remiss if I didn't address what I think the gospel is, or what it is to me. This is awkward, as I realize I'm not only preaching to the choir, but the choir director, the worship leader, the sunday school teacher.... And this is the first 'sermon' I've preached since my conversion; I'm rather frightened. Still, I would like to do this. I'm no Biblical scholar or theologian, and my plan is to keep things as personal, and brief, as I can.
Humans face two special problems:
First, it has struck me as profound for at least a decade that humans all have consciences and yet violate them. This is the dilemma of the self-reflective animal. Do the Stellar's Jays around my house feel guilty for eating eggs from other nests? For keeping smaller birds from food sources? It doesn't seem so. But humans, all healthy humans (sociopaths aside) have intricate moral barometers. Also, it is an untrue allegation that modern psychology tells us guilt is irrational; the books which argue this belong on the shelf next to the 30-day wheatgrass diet. Good therapy shows us that guilt is important. It can be healthy; it is an extension of empathy (ah, I knew that would hurt this person, but I did it anyway!) Good therapy also shows us that guilt can be destructive; it can quickly become shame which drives the individual away from relationships and into self-abuse and neglect. We are naked in the garden. And it hurts.
Second, we all die. This bothers me a great deal. When I was a kid there was (and probably still is) a book called Freddy the Leaf. Freddy goes through his little leaf life cycle and then shrivels and falls to the ground, to become fodder for the tree to make more little leafs. Ah, but no more Freddys. I hate mortality. Perhaps this is my neurotic bias, my inability to look into the existential void, but I hate death nonetheless, and I hate none more than my own. To know my spirit will join some cosmic energy pool, or my atoms reappear in a philosopher-king a thousand years from now, these make no difference to me. I want my memories, feelings, ideas, passions, experiences, my essence, to live on. I don't want to die. It feels absurd that I should have to.
Now these are two very different problems, and they could be discussed at length. But I begin my discussion of the gospel here because this is where the gospel really does begin. Jesus promises two things to those who trust him: final forgiveness and eternal life. No wonder it's called the good news! Could this simply be wish fulfillment, as in Feuerbach? Think again.
For the good news also has some very bad news. Jesus says at the end of time he will judge the world and only some will receive life (Luke 3 and Matthew 3, Mark 8 and 9, etc.) The rest, most perhaps, will be burned like garbage. If this is true, how does one get into the elusive Kingdom? What is the narrow path?
According to Jesus, it is two things: faith and love. Or perhaps one thing: faith which is expressed in love. In John 11, just before Jesus raises Lazarus from the dead, Jesus says to Lazarus' sister Martha, "your brother will rise again." Martha answers, "I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day." This was a point of theological contention at the time; some Jews believed in an afterlife or resurrection, some Jews didn't. Jesus then says the most amazing thing he could have said: "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?" This would be akin to say, Scott and I debating the Keynsian economic theory as I suddenly turn to Scott and say 'I am Kensian economics! Do you believe this?'
But note two things: one, Jesus says that those who believe in him will never die, or will not ever actually die. And two, he directly asks Martha, "Do you believe this?"
That is the good news. This is the threshold of Christianity. It's in every canonical gospel and in Paul as well; in fact, probably in every nt book.
Note that Martha doesn't answer, oh , yes, I believe you will raise all the dead at the end of time, or something like that. What she says in response is "I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who was to come into the world." She places faith in Jesus as her Messiah (I can assume Martha was Jewish) as God's son on a unique divine-historical mission. Believing, trusting, Jesus is who he says he is, even if we only understand part of what that means, that's the gospel.
But there is a second part. James' epistle was written off by Luther as 'a right strawy epistle' or something close. But Luther was of course reacting to a false gospel he himself previously held. Fact is, the language in James is close to things Jesus himself said, even its tone (considering James was Jesus' brother, this makes sense). Look at the parable of the sheep and goats in Matthew 25. I remember Keith Green, the 70's Christian singer who died in a plane crash, wrote a song about this parable and was accused of teaching 'works salvation.' In fact, a man I respect and a friend from my past told me once 'that's why God took him.' Well, I'm already afraid to fly anyway.
James' point is that faith in Jesus is not just mental belief; real faith is reflected in choices, I assume at least one!, based on that belief. And Jesus says that loving action is central to how, at the final judgement, he will evaluate those who are truly in his church from those who simply inhabit the building. Both the sheep and goats (indeed, both groups in all three parables in this chapter) 'know' Jesus in some sense. But it is the sheep who take in the stranger, care for the sick and those in prison, feed and clothe those in need. This is both an exhilitaring and an ominous parable.
I was driving behind a bus once and there was a sign on the back which said "Say this now, Jesus please come into my heart." I'm not kidding. I'm told one can convert to Islam by simply saying, "There is no God but Allah and Mohammed is his prophet." I assume in both cases one must mean what one says. But if I believe that Jesus is who he says he is in the gospels, that must result in loving action on my part. Loving gestures are what Jesus wants. How many tragic men say they love their wives, believe it, but ignore every need the wife has, perhaps even abuse her, hit and belittle her? Sure they believe they love her, but how would you judge their belief?
Haven't I heard of sola fide, faith alone? Haven't I read Paul's powerful argument regarding faith salvation in Romans, in Galatians? Yes. But there is no way the nt can be represented any other way, including St. Paul, but to say that the gospel is two things: one, believing Jesus is who he says he is and trusting him with my vast guilt and my eternal destiny; and two, in gratitude, in recognition, of his personhood attempting to become a more loving person, no matter how shoddy, ineffectual, or inconsistent my efforts. How can that kind of forgivness not move a person to loving gestures? The gospel isn't knowledge, it's belief, trust, it's charity.
You can roll it some other way, but I won't smoke it.
If anyone reads this and isn't sure he or she is saved, go back and read a gospel or part of one. Look at how Jesus talks about himself. Do you believe him? Yes, good, that's faith in Christ; now talk to your spouse in a different tone when he or she comes home tonight because you have been forgiven; spend a few minutes more listening to your child's day because you can now talk to Jesus about yours; speak out against injustice when you see it because Jesus cares for those who suffer. That's faith in action.
I myself have faith in Jesus. Do I live this magical love-glow life? No. Just keep reading my blog! But I have to say that every small step I take toward acting like a sheep and not a goat drives my faith into me like nothing else.
When Jesus says in John 14 that he has prepared rooms for us in his Father's house, he also says, "if it were not so, I would have told you." That's it. The gospel rests on the credibility of one person, but one person who forgives sins and raises the dead. I live in guilt, hurting those I love every day, and will know death. But according to Jesus, my guilt has value because it has led me to him, and my death will not be the end, but the beginning.
Humans face two special problems:
First, it has struck me as profound for at least a decade that humans all have consciences and yet violate them. This is the dilemma of the self-reflective animal. Do the Stellar's Jays around my house feel guilty for eating eggs from other nests? For keeping smaller birds from food sources? It doesn't seem so. But humans, all healthy humans (sociopaths aside) have intricate moral barometers. Also, it is an untrue allegation that modern psychology tells us guilt is irrational; the books which argue this belong on the shelf next to the 30-day wheatgrass diet. Good therapy shows us that guilt is important. It can be healthy; it is an extension of empathy (ah, I knew that would hurt this person, but I did it anyway!) Good therapy also shows us that guilt can be destructive; it can quickly become shame which drives the individual away from relationships and into self-abuse and neglect. We are naked in the garden. And it hurts.
Second, we all die. This bothers me a great deal. When I was a kid there was (and probably still is) a book called Freddy the Leaf. Freddy goes through his little leaf life cycle and then shrivels and falls to the ground, to become fodder for the tree to make more little leafs. Ah, but no more Freddys. I hate mortality. Perhaps this is my neurotic bias, my inability to look into the existential void, but I hate death nonetheless, and I hate none more than my own. To know my spirit will join some cosmic energy pool, or my atoms reappear in a philosopher-king a thousand years from now, these make no difference to me. I want my memories, feelings, ideas, passions, experiences, my essence, to live on. I don't want to die. It feels absurd that I should have to.
Now these are two very different problems, and they could be discussed at length. But I begin my discussion of the gospel here because this is where the gospel really does begin. Jesus promises two things to those who trust him: final forgiveness and eternal life. No wonder it's called the good news! Could this simply be wish fulfillment, as in Feuerbach? Think again.
For the good news also has some very bad news. Jesus says at the end of time he will judge the world and only some will receive life (Luke 3 and Matthew 3, Mark 8 and 9, etc.) The rest, most perhaps, will be burned like garbage. If this is true, how does one get into the elusive Kingdom? What is the narrow path?
According to Jesus, it is two things: faith and love. Or perhaps one thing: faith which is expressed in love. In John 11, just before Jesus raises Lazarus from the dead, Jesus says to Lazarus' sister Martha, "your brother will rise again." Martha answers, "I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day." This was a point of theological contention at the time; some Jews believed in an afterlife or resurrection, some Jews didn't. Jesus then says the most amazing thing he could have said: "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?" This would be akin to say, Scott and I debating the Keynsian economic theory as I suddenly turn to Scott and say 'I am Kensian economics! Do you believe this?'
But note two things: one, Jesus says that those who believe in him will never die, or will not ever actually die. And two, he directly asks Martha, "Do you believe this?"
That is the good news. This is the threshold of Christianity. It's in every canonical gospel and in Paul as well; in fact, probably in every nt book.
Note that Martha doesn't answer, oh , yes, I believe you will raise all the dead at the end of time, or something like that. What she says in response is "I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who was to come into the world." She places faith in Jesus as her Messiah (I can assume Martha was Jewish) as God's son on a unique divine-historical mission. Believing, trusting, Jesus is who he says he is, even if we only understand part of what that means, that's the gospel.
But there is a second part. James' epistle was written off by Luther as 'a right strawy epistle' or something close. But Luther was of course reacting to a false gospel he himself previously held. Fact is, the language in James is close to things Jesus himself said, even its tone (considering James was Jesus' brother, this makes sense). Look at the parable of the sheep and goats in Matthew 25. I remember Keith Green, the 70's Christian singer who died in a plane crash, wrote a song about this parable and was accused of teaching 'works salvation.' In fact, a man I respect and a friend from my past told me once 'that's why God took him.' Well, I'm already afraid to fly anyway.
James' point is that faith in Jesus is not just mental belief; real faith is reflected in choices, I assume at least one!, based on that belief. And Jesus says that loving action is central to how, at the final judgement, he will evaluate those who are truly in his church from those who simply inhabit the building. Both the sheep and goats (indeed, both groups in all three parables in this chapter) 'know' Jesus in some sense. But it is the sheep who take in the stranger, care for the sick and those in prison, feed and clothe those in need. This is both an exhilitaring and an ominous parable.
I was driving behind a bus once and there was a sign on the back which said "Say this now, Jesus please come into my heart." I'm not kidding. I'm told one can convert to Islam by simply saying, "There is no God but Allah and Mohammed is his prophet." I assume in both cases one must mean what one says. But if I believe that Jesus is who he says he is in the gospels, that must result in loving action on my part. Loving gestures are what Jesus wants. How many tragic men say they love their wives, believe it, but ignore every need the wife has, perhaps even abuse her, hit and belittle her? Sure they believe they love her, but how would you judge their belief?
Haven't I heard of sola fide, faith alone? Haven't I read Paul's powerful argument regarding faith salvation in Romans, in Galatians? Yes. But there is no way the nt can be represented any other way, including St. Paul, but to say that the gospel is two things: one, believing Jesus is who he says he is and trusting him with my vast guilt and my eternal destiny; and two, in gratitude, in recognition, of his personhood attempting to become a more loving person, no matter how shoddy, ineffectual, or inconsistent my efforts. How can that kind of forgivness not move a person to loving gestures? The gospel isn't knowledge, it's belief, trust, it's charity.
You can roll it some other way, but I won't smoke it.
If anyone reads this and isn't sure he or she is saved, go back and read a gospel or part of one. Look at how Jesus talks about himself. Do you believe him? Yes, good, that's faith in Christ; now talk to your spouse in a different tone when he or she comes home tonight because you have been forgiven; spend a few minutes more listening to your child's day because you can now talk to Jesus about yours; speak out against injustice when you see it because Jesus cares for those who suffer. That's faith in action.
I myself have faith in Jesus. Do I live this magical love-glow life? No. Just keep reading my blog! But I have to say that every small step I take toward acting like a sheep and not a goat drives my faith into me like nothing else.
When Jesus says in John 14 that he has prepared rooms for us in his Father's house, he also says, "if it were not so, I would have told you." That's it. The gospel rests on the credibility of one person, but one person who forgives sins and raises the dead. I live in guilt, hurting those I love every day, and will know death. But according to Jesus, my guilt has value because it has led me to him, and my death will not be the end, but the beginning.
Comments
You nailed it. Belief, trust and charity. Theologian or not, you nailed it. I try to remember that living the Gospel is no easy task some days, but always worth the effort for how it can transform me. Thanks for these words of encouragement. Peace.
Mike
E-man