Get Your Voice Back (Part 4): Root Out False Gospels!
“Don’t let anyone tell you that you need to change. You are good the way you are. Put yourself first, and follow your dreams, then you will be happy.”
This is the mantra of our modern age.
The Gospel, on the other hand, tells us that apart from God no one is good. We are all sinners in need of forgiveness. Happiness doesn’t come from doing whatever we want, but from self-denial, surrender, and sacrifice.
If you share the Gospel today, you will not be very popular – yet this has always been the case.
For two thousand years, the Cross has been seen as foolish and offensive. If we talk about it, people will reject us. But sometimes, we are rejected for the wrong reasons.
Many Christians have added to the Gospel in ways that have hurt their witness. If we want to regain our voice with nonbelievers, we must focus on the Gospel alone, and root out anything that doesn’t belong.
Many of us are worshiping some combination of freedom, politics, country, and security, all stamped and approved by Jesus.
This divided allegiance is a significant barrier to our ability to engage with those outside of the Church.
If freedom is your god, then you will resist anyone or anything that infringes on the choices you want to make.
But the Gospel is not about you or me doing whatever we want. Jesus calls us to lay down our lives for the sake of others. The true freedom we have in Him liberates us from sin and death.
Ironically, when we make freedom our god, we become slaves to it and end up anything but free.
A “gospel of freedom” will be a barrier to our witness because reaching people always requires self-denial and self-sacrifice. When we idolize our rights and liberties, we lose credibility with those outside the Church. Secular people can see the dissonance between Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross and Christians clinging tightly to their freedom.
The apostle Paul recognized this when he said, “For though I am free from all, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win more of them.” (1 Corinthians 9:19)
When our primary allegiance is to God and His Kingdom, like Paul’s was, we gladly lay down anything for the sake of others.
Others of us have put our hope in our government or country.
I believe God calls us to be good citizens and willing participants in building a just and prosperous nation. We should be grateful for all the good our country provides for us. Running water, roads, public services, relative peace and safety - these are by no means rights, and most people throughout history lived without them.
But as followers of Jesus, our allegiance is to Him first. He alone is perfect, and we are not. This means that every system, every country, every government is likewise flawed. We strive to be good citizens and make things better, but our hope is in God alone. Human systems will not save us, and if we place our hope in them, they will let us down.
If we make a god out of our country or political party, we are forced to deny, minimize, or ignore flaws when they inevitably emerge – after all, our savior cannot fail us.
God alone is the standard. He alone is our hope. We will always be aliens and exiles in this life, called to love and serve, but never settle.
For others, personal safety and security are a savior. If this is the case, you will fight anything or anyone you deem a threat to this ideal.
Jesus risked His reputation and safety to interact with people society rejected. He loved people more than His own life, and proved this by dying so that we could be free. You will never love people like Jesus did unless you allow the “gospel of security” to die.
The altering or watering down of the true Gospel is a significant reason why we no longer have an audience with nonbelievers. Jesus will always offend, but for the right reasons.
The true Gospel beckons us to a life of selflessness, and to a deep humility stemming from the recognition that only God is perfect and worthy of our total devotion.
In these truths, the power of God dwells, and when we proclaim it, lives are changed.