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Fusing the two halves of Jesus

February 4, 2009

Posted in: Journal

The Gospel is news.  I know the word means “good news,” but I’m only lately meditating on what it means to be news at all.  News is a report on what is happening (or has just happened).  News is right now.  News is going on.

Preaching the Gospel or sharing the Gospel or even living the Gospel in my Christian experience has always been about the retelling of timeless truths.  Recounting the story of man’s sinfulness, the cross and the empty tomb.  That’s what I’ve always believed the Gospel message to be.  So whether you express it through the Four Spiritual Laws or the Romans Road or a bunch of 15 year-old kids acting out scenes, with The Champion by Carmen playing behind them, we’re talking about the retelling of the old, old story – how the Savior came from glory.  Before going further, I must say that there is nothing bad or wrong about this.  I’m sure we need more of it, not less.  But it is also striking me that this is not what Jesus did at all.

He did not tell of timeless truths.  It is clear he could have.  Jesus could have been an Old Testament professor.  But instead of retelling the old, old story Jesus was always talking about what was happening right now.  Even when he spoke from the platform of the Old Testament scriptures (Luke 4) it was to say, “This is happening right now.”  “The kingdom of God is in the midst of you.”  “Before Abraham was, I Am.”  It’s all right now.  This is lost from my Gospel.  I’m not telling people about right now.  I’m telling them about back then and trying passionately (maybe desparately) to bring that old, old story into their lives today.

Is this the way you feel about your share of the Gospel too?  Do you feel stuck with this old story and are finding it harder and harder to share it with the people you think need it the most?  When do you have the right setting or opportunity to talk to people about where they are going to “spend eternity?”  When was the last time you’ve been able to work the Romans Road into a conversation with your neighbor?  The bold among us are actually doing this because their zeal for God and his Great Commission causes them to ignore the personal embarassment and social awkwardness.  I deeply, deeply admire these people and have challenged my introverted nature to be more like them – but to what end?  With what fruit to show from it?

The retelling of timeless truth almost forces us to split Jesus into one of two halves.  We either make our focus on his eternal power and Godliness, or we seek to convince people of his personal love and acceptance of them.  This is a broad brush for sure, but you can boil down almost all modern methods of evangelism and find one of these “halves of Jesus” at the root.  So listening to the Spirit is essentially reduced to a 50-50 shot at properly communicating one part of the timeless truth in a way that will prick the heart of the person in need of salvation and transformation.  I don’t know… I hope I’m making some sense with this.  Haven’t you felt, in any of the attempts at evangelism you’ve been exposed to, that there must be a better way?

I believe that there is.  It is the way that Jesus used all along.  I’ve started calling them “coded messages,” and I believe that they are actually transmitted through us more often than with us.  In other words, we are not even aware of the way that the real Gospel – the right now reporting on what God is currently doing – is being delivered in our words and in our actions.  I want to write more about these coded messages because I believe that it is through them, due to no persuasive effort of ours, that the two “halves” of Jesus are fused for people.