Reading the Gospel of Mark this morning, and I was reminded of this question, one I have asked myself many times:
Why have we reduced the “gospel” to
“Jesus died on the cross to forgive your sins so you could go to heaven when you die”
… when none of the writers of scripture state or echo that idea (i.e. that THAT is the gospel)?
I won’t take the time to unpack all that right now (maybe tomorrow?), but consider this:
After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God. “The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!” (Mark 1:14-15)
Jesus came proclaiming the Good News (the “gospel”). The Good News was that the Time had come, that the Empire of God had come near! Jesus called us to change direction (“repent”) and believe that Good News.
That’s the Gospel Jesus proclaimed. What Gospel do you proclaim?
Amen! The fact that the gospel is no longer clear in the American Church speaks volumes. No matter how we interpret prophecy or timetables, the time of Christ’s second coming is near! What will He find? What will He find?
Unfortunately it is TOO clear to some, but it is a reduced down version. And many in our culture are frankly inoculated against such a version of the gospel. There’s more!
Looking fwd to writing a bit more about this…
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