I'm wrestling with the question "What is the gospel?" I realize that I have been shaped dramatically by my Western culture. We have been deeply embedded in the thinking of Maslow and his hierarchy of needs. In our prosperous land I'm not sure we know the difference between a "need" and a normal (but mostly inconsequential) human desire. For many Westerners, everything becomes a "need."
Maslow is quoted as saying "Life acquires its energy and dynamism from our relentless attempts to meet these needs." In other words, whatever we define as our "need" becomes the thing that we live for. Meeting our needs becomes the central purpose of life. Thus the gospel for many (if not most) Westerners is the "good news that Jesus will meet your needs."
Now it is biblically true that Jesus meets needs (Phil. 4:19). Our God is "Jehovah Jirah," the God who provides (Gen. 22:14). However, I believe that the problem is that in our intensely marketed, consumeristic culture, we do not know how to define "need." It seems like whatever we desire, it becomes a "need" and God must provide it!
The result is self-absorbtion and narcissism. Salvation and spiritual growth becomes all about meeting my needs - e.g. serving me. I am the center of my world. Could it be that the gospel is much more about the redemption of the world (including creation) than about me and my needs? I'm still wrestling with "What is the REAL good news?"
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Today I'm in Boise, Idaho, with Alan Roxburgh and the Missional Church/Allelon people for a seminar on missional leadership ... so, today Alan says that the problem with the church today (among so many others) is that we have this desire to tell people that God will fill all our needs for intimacy. In fact, Alan says, it's in the space between (the oposite of his definition of intimacy) that there is room for the Spirit to do God's work. If this is true ... then the Gospel will never fill our perceived needs ... that is make us "feel good" because it's precisely in our uncomfortableness that we leave space for the Spirit. That is probably a very bad interpretation of what Al said today ... but it's my best understanding at this moment.
I've been thinking and struggling a lot with this lately. When it seems that I've cut out "needs"-based thinking all I need to do this consider how many hours during the day my perceived needs are higher on the mental horizon than anything else.
I agree that many professing Christians relate to God as if the really good news is that He will give them what they think they need. This is how many of us "professionals" make appeals for people to come to Christ for salvation. We appeal to their desire to have a meaningful life. We appeal to their desire for excitement...a happy marriage...happy children...financial freedom...and the list goes on! We are oftentimes guilty of marketing these desires as the really great news, while the news of escaping Hell is simply a nice by-product that is certainly important, but doesn't have much relevance to us now.
But the good news of scripture seems, especially when you look at the context of the whole bible, to be very focused on the atoning work of Christ being made available to all. The good news is that I can be forgiven! Will my life be full? Yes. Will it be meaningful? Yes. But I might be martyred for my faith if I follow God's plan for my life. I might be kidnapped and tortured if I go to Iraq to share the real gospel. And when is the good news applied to my life? Only when I come in repentance and faith. And repentance means a change of mind about what's most important to me. The regenerate heart has a new set of desires incubating inside that do not revolve around self but around Christ.
I fear that when we present the wrong "news" as the real good news, we run the risk of innoculating people against the gospel. Their attitude can become something like, "Oh, yeah. I accepted that good news. I asked Jesus into my heart. Things aren't that different for me yet, but, I've been there and done that."
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