The full circle of The Gospel

I never want my blog to come across as a venue for a judgmental attitude, but it seems a rather odd thing, or perhaps sad is the better word, that believers in the church today are not only uninterested in the reality of sin and judgment, but that we see it as an unnecessary topic of discussion or preaching. I have my theories as to why this appears to be growing theme among churches, and at the top of the list are what people seem to be considering the most "successful" churches. Of course, the success of church is completely determined by how many people they have in a worship service and how large the physical structure of a church is, everyone knows that. Content has very little to do with it.

My sarcasm aside, what most people are getting these days is one half of the Gospel message. They receive the meek, gentle, welcoming, healing, providing, sustaining Jesus who is ready to serve their needs whenever the time is right for the believer. What they aren't receiving is the other half of the Gospel, that needs to come before what I have just mentioned. The problem causing, sin convicting, revolutionary Jesus who is willing to forgive your sin, but not willing to let you get a free pass from recognizing your sin. Matthew 10:34 has Jesus speaking and telling those listening that "I did not come to bring peace, but I have brought a sword."

In virtually every encounter Jesus has with those whom he speaks, he eventually makes them realize the condition of their lives. . .that they are hopelessly lost in sin and there is nothing they can do about it. Even if they have read The Purpose Driven Life. Jesus repeatedly asks people to do things He knows perfectly well they can't do, and he does this to point out their sin to them. In John 4, Jesus asks the Samaritan woman to go get her husband, knowing full well that she did not have one. It kind of destroys the evangelical cliche that "Christ will never ask you to do anything you can't do." His honest confrontation forced her to admit her condition, and then Jesus takes over for her. That is where the gentle, meek and welcoming Jesus is such a relief. Only after we have acknowledged our inability to handle our condition of sin on our own.

So, in order for the reader of the text to complete the full circle of the Gospel, an awareness of sin, death and our own inability to do anything about it must continue to be a theme for the day. Sure, my church could double it's size if we would conveniently leave those things out. Heck, maybe we would even purchase the Gaylord Entertainment Center for our church services. But the Kingdom surely would shrink.