Jonathots Daily Blog
(2104)
The gospel works.
That’s why we call it “good news.”
On the other hand, our culture is not nearly as efficient. It is often a cult of cop-out convenience.
I don’t wish to become brash or harsh, but I do want to say that there is an ongoing danger of people wrapping the culture of our country in the pretty paper of the Bible, tying it up with the bow of “God and country.”
Let’s make some distinctions:
1. The gospel teaches “do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” Our culture, on the other hand, promotes the idea, “do unto yourself while including others.”
2. The gospel teaches that “NoOne is better than anyone else.” Meanwhile, back at our culture, it is promoted that we are all unique, and therefore different.
3. The gospel: “give and it will be given unto you.” The culture: “get what you can and give to others as you can.”
4. “Don’t judge others.” There’s the gospel. In the culture, we preach, “Don’t allow yourself to be judge.”
5. Continuing on with the gospel: “to he who is given much, much is expected.” We have a three-word cultural mantra: “cut yourself slack.”
6. And finally, the gospel teaches that “whatsoever a man sows, that shall he also reap.” Yet the popular philosophy in our culture is, “After we reap, we will get around to sowing” with a sidebar of, “It’s not my fault.”
So in an attempt to hold people in a church, we create a surrogate–impregnating faith with our culture.
- Our sermons are laced with grace, absent any responsibility or guilt.
- We teach that God has “a wonderful plan for our lives” in order to stay hip with all the fantasy and Hobbit movies.
- We insist that “God will supply all our need” without warning people that He does expect us to show up and be involved.
- We pretend we can love the sinner and still hate the sin.
- We literally screech that God’s salvation and grace is free to all, leaving us with believers who are bound to a culture, habits and lifestyles that are not fulfilling.
I don’t see anything wrong with wrapping the gospel up in what is culturally pleasing. You can use all the technology, all the music stylings and all available data to sparkle the message in a contemporary way. But when you start preaching the culture in the name of the gospel, you are flirting with disaster.
So how do you know when you’re in the presence of the gospel?
You’ll hear a message that teaches us to believe in God … while taking personal responsibility for your hunk of the kingdom.
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Jonathots Daily Blog 