More than two months ago I introduced a book that deals with seven important topics promising to address each of them in turn. Having written about the first two (truth and evangelism), I come now to #3: the gospel.

With much contemporary debate and misunderstanding about salvation, my goal through these entries is to answer one question. What are the essential elements of the gospel?

Also, please don’t lose sight of our goal with this series and with what will be several entries about the gospel… “I want to challenge you to consider your beliefs regarding seven topics (and now ‘the gospel’) because they provide a foundation for your understanding of Christianity and the Church.”

The Gospel is the message of God’s plan and work to save sinners from His wrath and bring them into a relationship with Himself through the work of Jesus Christ and the offer of that gift to all who will turn from sin and trust in Christ.

This very pregnant sentence demands unpacking. And thus we will over the course of a few entries expound upon the phrases of this important definition. (I’ll try to keep track of my first, second, third, etc. as we move along, but I make no promises.)

First and obvious, the “gospel” has a singular definition. Much of the current discussion about the gospel is an attempt to circumvent any negligible definition. The gospel has become something of a moving target that bends and flexes as we roam along from culture to culture and society to society. However, biblical revelation is our guide to all matters of faith and practice and it most certainly provides a single definition. Thus, one can only embrace or share the ‘gospel’ when he or she has rightly identified it.

Second, the “gospel” is a message or a definitive collection of concepts that relate a specific joyous announcement. Often called the good news, the gospel tells a distinct story. Thus, one can only embrace the gospel as good news when he or she has heard and understood a specific message.

⁵⁷As they were going along the road, someone said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.” ⁵⁸And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” ⁵⁹To another he said, “Follow me.” But he said, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” ⁶⁰And Jesus said to him, “Leave the dead to bury their own dead. But as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.” ⁶¹Yet another said, “I will follow you, Lord, but let me first say farewell to those at my home.” ⁶²Jesus said to him, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”

Luke 9:57-62 (ESV)

By today’s standard, Jesus would make a lousy evangelist. It seems pastors and churches are dressing-up the gospel and ‘pitching’ salvation like salesmen.

Listen closely to the average evangelistic sermon or witnessing encounter and all you hear is a string benefits that will follow if a person will just pray a specific set of words. Jesus sounds more like the last pathetic soul on the playground hoping to be picked or a lottery ticket than the reigning Son of God.

C’mon, pick him. He really loves you. He’s a nice guy. He can help you out. He can give you more than you’ve ever dreamed. He’ll bless the fool out of you if you’ll just give him a chance.

While the blessings that come from knowing God through Jesus exceed the wildest imaginations, Jesus never used blessings as a carrot to invite men and women to follow him. In fact, he often used the costs associated with following him to test whether a person was truly interested in God’s Kingdom.

In this text from Luke 9, notice what a terrible salesman Jesus is as he interacts with three potential disciples.

He tells the first guy that following him could very well leave him poorer than foxes and birds.

He tells the second guy that following him would mean foregoing the family fortune. (The issue in verses 59-60 was not the imminent burial of his dad, but the eventual burial of his dad at some point in the future. It seems the guy wanted to wait for his inheritance first.)

He tells the third guy that following him would mean a trusting God for provision and not family support.

Sounds like Jesus forgot to tell them the good part. Or maybe he did tell them the good part. That following Jesus is the most difficult yet glorious path in life.

Last time I introduced a discussion about evangelism by framing a contemporary conversation concerning how a church can strike the correct balance between welcoming unbelievers into their community while guarding the growth of maturing believers. At the heart of the matter is a proper understanding of ‘conversion’ and ‘faith community;’ thus I turn to these definitions today to wrap-up this two-part series.

A person is converted (or saved) when he trusts in Jesus to pay the penalty for his sin and to reconcile him to God. This trusting involves turning from sin, turning to God, and receiving the gift of eternal life from God on the basis of Jesus’ death on the cross. Obviously, I’ve summarized a great deal here, but at the heart of becoming a follower of Jesus there must be a decisive embrace of Him as Savior.

In a generic sense a ‘faith community’ is comprised of people are joined together by their common trust in someone or something. Thus, in the Christian sense a faith community is a group of converted men and women who are joined together by their common relationship to (or trust in) Christ. Joining a ‘Christian faith community,’ therefore, presupposes that a person has been converted.

With these two definitions in view our approach to evangelism emerges with help from two passages.

First…

¹⁰And as Jesus reclined at table in the house, behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and were reclining with Jesus and his disciples. ¹¹And when the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” ¹²But when he heard it, he said, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. ¹³Go and learn what this means, ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’ For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”

Matthew 9:10-13 (ESV)

Second…

⁵“If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. ¹⁶But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses. ¹⁷If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.

Matthew 18:15-18 (ESV)

In the first passage, Jesus meets opposition from religious leaders because he ministers to ‘sinners’ or people who are obviously not part of the faith community. His defends his ministry in the name of evangelism by saying essentially that sinners can’t be converted unless we reach out to them.

In the second passage while Jesus is teaching about disciplining members of the faith community, he clarifies the distinction between these sinners (and specifically tax collectors) and members of a faith community. He does not direct us to forget about ‘sinners,’ but he calls us to treat them differently than other believers. In the first text he defends his association with tax collectors and in the second text he names tax collectors as outsiders to the faith community. This distinction is critical to our discussion of evangelism.

We live and work and play among unbelievers and we must use seek opportunities to introduce them to the Physician who can heal them spiritually. Part of our strategy for introducing them to God may be to invite them to spend time with our faith community. We must welcome these ‘sinners’ with love and share the gospel plainly with them. This welcoming and sharing is exactly what Jesus was doing in Matthew 9. They need the gospel because without a clear explanation of it they cannot trust Jesus for salvation. Evangelism assumes that we do not shy from sharing the gospel.

While we welcome ‘sinners’ to interact with our faith community, we must hold to the distinction Jesus introduced in Matthew 18. An unconverted person cannot participate in our faith community the same way a believer can. Our churches must balance this tension. We must welcome sinners so we can share with them the great message of the gospel while maintaining a clear distinction between members of the faith community and those individuals who remain outside because they do not share our common relationship to Jesus Christ.

Therefore, sinners are always welcome to come alongside our faith community to taste and see Jesus AND we are consistently inviting them to join our faith community by trusting in Jesus for salvation.

Almost two months ago I introduced a book that deals with seven important topics promising to address each of them in turn. Through a four-part series last month, I addressed the first of these topics: truth.

Today, I return to this larger series to begin discussing the second of these seven topics: evangelism. More specifically, we’ll seek to answer the question, ‘How can churches strike the correct balance between welcoming unbelievers into their community while guarding the growth of maturing believers?’

Also, please don’t lose sight of our goal with this series and with what will be several entries about evangelism… “I want to challenge you to consider your beliefs regarding seven topics (and now ‘evangelism’) because they provide a foundation for your understanding of Christianity and the Church.”

As in most areas of life, most churches (and believers) are drawn to extremes at the point of evangelism. The seeker movement led many to embrace evangelism as the only goal of their corporate meetings. The pursuit of ‘decisions for Christ’ became the standard for any gathering. Unbelievers were confronted with the gospel and their response to it formed a litmus test for their ability to ‘belong’ to the community. In this model the pursuit of spiritual maturity was often relegated to small group meetings and discipleship classes reserved for those people who had been converted.

The emerging movement pushed in a different but equally dangerous direction by creating welcoming communities that rarely ever call for a ‘decision for Christ.’ Their response to this emphasis on (if not obsession with) conversion was to dismiss it altogether opting for a salvation through belonging. They want to allow people to join the ‘faith community’ trusting that their relationship with the group will bring them to know God. In this model, however, a specific call for conversion is often absent entirely.

Our philosophy of evangelism must be framed by aspects of both these models while being dominated by neither. At the heart of the matter is a proper understanding of conversion and faith community.

Next time I’ll summarize a proper understanding of ‘conversion’ and ‘faith community’ that will lead us to know how a church can strike the correct balance between welcoming unbelievers into their community while guarding the growth of maturing believers.

In case you have never heard them before, today I share some interesting thoughts about missions and its place in the order of life and ministry.

“Missions is not the ultimate goal of the church. Worship is. Missions exists because worship doesn’t. Worship is ultimate, not missions, because God is ultimate, not man. When this age is over, and the countless millions of the redeemed fall on their faces before the throne of God, missions will be no more. It is a temporary necessity. But worship abides forever.”

From John Piper, Let the Nations Be Glad, 2003, p. 17.

When worship is rightly understood, Piper argues, it becomes the fuel and goal of missions. Therefore, missions is secondary and worship is primary. So we might ask…

• What is the ultimate goal of our missions endeavors? Man’s salvation or God’s glory?
• What provides the fuel for our missions endeavors? Man’s salvation or God’s glory?

Acts 9 contains one of the most well-known and significant stories in the Bible related to world missions. A man named Saul, who was also and more famously known as Paul, met Jesus and was converted on a journey from Jerusalem to Damascus. This man would become the greatest missionary and most fruitful author the church has ever known.

I recently had the privilege of preaching from Acts 9 during which I presented 7 marks of genuine, biblical conversion. The list is by no means exhaustive as many other marks of conversion are known from the Bible and seen in the world.

However, from this story at least seven emerged as significant in the text and today I share the first three of them. [You might re-read Acts 9 before you continue.]

Conversion is orchestrated by God (see 9:3-7, 10-16). Saul did nothing to invite or entice God to save him. He did not ask for Jesus’ to appear to him. He was simply ‘minding his own business’ when God met him and changed him. Saul’s conversion was an act of God. Every genuine conversion is an act of God.

Take a moment to remember what God did to orchestrate your conversion.

Conversion involves brokenness (see 9:9, 17). Immediately after seeing the vision of the risen Christ, Saul was blind. The once strong man was now weak. The once leader was now a blind follower. The once sufficient man was now completely dependent. Saul was not just humbled physically; he was humbled spiritually. After 3 days of blindness, he would place his life into the hands of a man he had been committed to arresting. His submission to Ananias demonstrates his brokenness. Every genuine conversion is marked by brokenness and humility.

Is your life marked by brokenness over sin and humility or indifference toward sin and arrogance?

Conversion includes a divine calling (see 9:15-16). God saved Saul for a general purpose and a specific calling. Saul was a chosen instrument for the spread of the gospel (general) to certain people in particular places (specific). While our purpose mirrors Saul’s (to spread the gospel), our specific calling will differ. Our calling, however, is no less real or important. Every genuine conversion includes a calling to share the gospel to specific people.

With whom are you called to share the gospel?

From one of the best books of our generation by one of the great theologians of our generation, the following quote reveals why this 30-year-old book is still so widely read and appreciated.

“It is not for us to imagine that we can prove the truth of Christianity by our arguments; nobody can prove the truth of Christianity except the Holy Spirit, by his own almighty work of renewing the blinded heart. It is the sovereign prerogative of Christ’s Spirit to convince men’s consciences of the truth of Christ’s gospel; and Christ’s human witnesses must learn to ground their hopes of success not on clever presentation of the truth by man, but on the powerful demonstration of the truth by the Spirit.”

J.I. Packer, Knowing God, 71

Packer’s words about God’s sovereignty in salvation actually compel me to share the gospel every time I read them for at least two reasons.

First, God’s sovereignty eases the pressure I feel to “convert” people. I find great comfort in remembering and pondering “the sovereign prerogative of Christ’s Spirit” to save. I share and God saves.

Second, God’s sovereignty gives me great confidence. I am so thankful a person’s salvation is NOT dependent on my cleverness or ability to prove truth of the gospel. Again, I share and God saves.

On June 17, I presented part one of this series in which I wrote…

“Unless the Church redefines how she understands and uses this medium, television preaching may (in the long-run) do more harm than good for the spread of the gospel.”

I return to the subject today to present two final reasons televised preaching poses a threat to worldwide evangelism.

Televised preaching places too much emphasis on the gifts of the communicator.

The gospel message is simple and powerful. Any person who receives God’s salvation is equipped to share it. In fact, the most effective witnesses are often the individuals who have most recently tasted this gift. As remarkable as many communicators are, the gospel is not an instrument for highlighting man’s ability and televised preaching often fosters the exaltation of communicators.

Televised preaching provides a medium for sharing the gospel that is not reproducible in every context.

Effective televised preaching breeds dependence on a televised preaching. For example, when a person living in a remote part of the earth is saved through a televised sermon, the only tool for evangelism he knows is a video sermon. In modeling television evangelism we have provided him a life-changing message in a form that will often impede his spiritual development. Without accompanying discipleship through personal investment persons reached by televised preaching might equate it with evangelism.

Like any technology, video can be a useful instrument for broadcasting spiritual messages and a catalyst for spiritual formation. I am not arguing that the Church should jettison video technology or calling for a boycott. Ridiculous extremes are too prevalent and ineffective.

The church must recover the biblical commission for evangelism and make a clear distinction between our use of video technology as a means for spiritual formation and the illusion that televised sermons will reach the world for Christ. Televised sermons can NOT fulfill the Great Commission. Disciples have been and always will be made through personal investment.

William Carey was born in England in 1761 and left as a missionary to India in 1793. Although he was poor and almost completely uneducated, Carey translated the Bible into dozens of languages and established schools and missions all over India. What he lacked in terms of education and skill he made up with surrender to God’s call.

He simply could not understand how Christians could read this text and “sit at ease” while most of the world is “lost in ignorance and idolatry.” So Carey left the comforts of life in England for the trials of missionary life.

And he would face more than his share of trials. He faced unimaginable grief in burying two wives and three children. He faced physical suffering in losing most of his hair in his 20′s due to illness and fighting back diarrhea and malaria. He faced exhaustion by serving in India for 41 years without ever taking a vacation. He faced discouragement in serving 7 years before baptizing his first convert.

Yet Carey remained and through his work thousands have been changed. They have been changed because the Bible is in their language. They have been changed because the gospel is now preached in their communities. They have been changed because one man was willing to abandon his life to surrender to God’s call to make disciples.

Will you obey the call to make disciples?

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*The factual information for this blog entry comes from two terrific books. Daniel Akin’s Five Who Changed the World and Timothy George’s Faithful Witness: The Life and Mission of William Carey.

On June 17, I presented part one of this series in which I wrote…

“Unless the Church redefines how she understands and uses this medium, television preaching may (in the long-run) do more harm than good for the spread of the gospel.”

I return to the subject today to present the two more reasons televised preaching poses a threat to worldwide evangelism.

Televised preaching robs legitimate missionary endeavors of necessary funds.

Every dollar spent producing a televised sermon is a dollar taken from legitimate disciple-making endeavors throughout the world. The multi-million-dollar television production that supports many of these “ministries” could fund thousands of missionaries. The half-baked pleas offering a cheesy trinket in exchange for a monetary gift or seed included in these broadcast “ministries” disgraces the gospel and diverts resources from more effective ministry efforts.

Furthermore, the poor stewardship of televised preaching ministries is growing as the production costs of these programs increase. The obsession with production quality contradicts the argument that television is simply a medium for communicating a gospel that is simple and powerful. The message of the gospel is not enhanced by increased graphical creativity; rather these expensive elements distract from the gospel’s simplicity and rob even more money from legitimate missionary endeavors.

Televised preaching does not plant churches.

The first disciples used one primary technique to fulfill Jesus’ Commission: plant churches. From Jesus’ ascension to the close of the New Testament, the first missionaries would enter a town, share the gospel, and start a local church. Televised preaching ministries are incapable of following the most basic New Testament pattern for spreading the gospel.

Follow our money and you will always find our treasure. From our spending it seems many have forgotten that disciples have been and always will be made through personal investment.