Letters From the Edge—

May 13, 2008

Good News or Good Advice?

Many people today believe that all religions basically say the same things. I think it was actor Will Smith who after looking into Scientology said that it was very similar to Christianity. Ignorance abounds! If you believe that all religion is basically ethics— getting people to do the right thing then why get uptight over all the differences? If you reduce Christianity, the Gospel to good advice it blends in perfectly with the culture of life coaching. It then sounds like Dr. Laura, Dr. Phil, Oprah, Joel Osteen and Paula White. If we pitch Christianity as the best method for personal improvement then what right do we have to say that our religion is the only source of happiness meaning and experiences?

What makes Christianity unique is not its morality but its story. The story of the creator who was rejected by all those He created and then humbled Himself in order to reconcile them to Himself through the work of His Son. This isn’t a story about individuals’ progress to heaven, but it’s the recital of historical events of Jesus’ incarnation, atonement, resurrection, ascension and return. This story is the Gospel the Good News that God has reconciled us to Himself in Jesus Christ. If Christianity is not good news then the proclamation of Jesus Christ can be turned into good advice. But its good news because it’s the announcement of something that someone else has already achieved for us that we could never achieve ourselves.

When the Church gets distracted from preaching the Gospel, and we no longer see ourselves as ambassadors to the Great King or witnesses to that which someone else has accomplished for us we end up becoming the stars of the show. Instead of representing the news we become the news. Instead of being ambassadors or heralds or witnesses we become entrepreneurs, managers, coaches, therapists, marketing and communication specialists who are selling the Gospel. A lot of the distortions in the church today like— consumerism, pop psychology, the therapeutic gospel, the prosperity gospel and much more happen because we have confused the law with the Gospel. We forget that the Gospel is an announcement of what God has done rather than another piece of advice. So we turn the Gospel into good advice.

The result of preaching good advice instead of the Gospel is to bring people back under the law. The law is what God demands, the Gospel is what God gives. Whatever God demands in the law is what He freely gives in the Gospel. Legalistic churches preach all the warnings, "You better stop drinking, stop smoking, and stop cursing or you are going to hell!". They preach prohibitions trying to strike fear in people’s hearts over their behavior. Many churches have rejected that legalistic message for "Law Lite." "You really could be a better you." They remove all judgmental language but it’s still a message of works. Others preach love, "God just wants you to love." Because they really think that love is the antithesis of the law. There are many people who think that the bad news is the law and the good news is love. But Jesus said the greatest commandment of the law is to "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: love your neighbor as yourself. All the law and the prophets hang on these two commandments" (Matt.22:37-40). Do you think that this is good news? Don’t you realize that this is the most demanding religion that’s possible? Do you honestly think that loving God with all your heart is easy? There is no one alive that loves God with all their heart, all their soul and all their strength! Jesus said that loving God summarizes the whole law! Do you want to live by the law or by the Gospel? The essence of both legalism and liberalism is some kind of moralism— "Do this and you will be happier." No, the law says "Do this or else!".

The law is an imperative— a command, something absolutely necessary and binding, a compelling rule, a duty or requirement. Do this or else this will happen! The Gospel is an indicative— an announcement of a state of affairs that has already taken place. It’s good news. The emphasis on both left-liberal relativism and right legalistic moralism always falls on the imperatives, here are some things you need to do. On the left you have to vote a certain way, work to save the planet, reduce your carbon footprint, live green, save the whales and support abortion rights. On the right you have to vote a certain way, work to save the economy, support free enterprise, oppose illegal immigration and march in a pro-life rally. Once you say the Gospel is the law you have drained indicatives of their meaning and confused them with imperatives. Martin Luther said there are only two religions— one that is Gospel based and all others that are law based. Luther also said, "The whole Gospel is outside of us." What does that mean? A favorite story of grace lovers has to do with Luther’s relationship with his friend Phillip Melancthon. Luther was hiding out in the Warburg Castle and was translating the Bible into German. His only contact with his good friend Phillip was by courier. Phillip had a completely different temperament than Luther. Some would call him timid, and others would call him spineless. On one occasion when Philip had another attack of timidity he wrote to Luther, "I woke this morning wondering if I trust Christ enough". Luther received letters like this on a regular basis. Phillip had a tendency to navel-gaze and to always wonder about the state of his inner faith, was it enough to save him. Finally in an effort to pull out all the stops and to pull Phillip out of himself Luther wrote back and said, "Melanchton! Go sin bravely! Then go to the cross and bravely confess it! The whole Gospel is outside of us!"

This story has been used many times to attack Luther and reformation teachings as advocating morally unrestrained behavior. These critics of grace are asserting that if we are not justified by our own moral conformity to the law but by Christ’s alone then there is nothing keeping us from self-indulgence. In other words if you preach grace, if you preach the Gospel you are giving people a license to sin. Is that like a hunting or fishing license? You don’t need a license to sin, it’s what you do naturally because you’re a sinner. This is the same charge made against the apostle Paul to which he answered in Romans 6, "What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means!" . Anyone who preaches grace in a way that encourages people to sin doesn’t understand grace at all. Luther was trying to shake his friend out of a morbid introspection. Melanchthon’s assurance didn’t depend on God’s promise but on his own ability to see growth and improvement in his Christian walk. Luther wasn’t inviting his friend to serve sin but was trying to shock him into realizing that his only true righteousness was external to him. "The whole Gospel is outside of us".

There are a lot of Christians today looking for the assurance of their salvation in all the wrong places. They think their standing before God, now that they are Christians, is based on their obedience and their own righteousness. They have either forgotten or never been taught this basic fact that the Gospel is outside of us. This means that Christ’s death was outside of me and for me. After you have been declared righteous by grace through faith, this grace will begin to change you, that’s sanctification. But this changing that takes place is not what justifies you.

If you don’t believe this then what do you do when you fail? What do you do when you sin? And you will. What do you do when you realize you don’t love God with all your heart and you don’t love your neighbor? If you don’t believe that the Gospel includes your sanctification then you are left in despair. What you need to do is turn back to your Savior where your sanctification is completely located. The most important thing to remember is that the death of Christ was in fact a death even for Christian failure. Christ’s death even saves Christians from sin! A lot of people preach a gospel that always has room even for the worst of sinners at the cross, but not for Christians. The Good News is that there is always room at the cross for Christians too.

I can’t tell you how many people I’ve talked to who because of repeated failure say something like— "This is about the last shot I’ve got. If I don’t get it right with God, I won’t make it to heaven." I’m talking about people who are Christians, who believed Christ’s death was for them. But because of a faulty understanding of the Gospel and because they have struggled so much in living the Christian life, they now are not sure if Christ’s death is enough for them. They don’t need good advice, they need good news. They need to know that the assurance of their salvation is based on the fulness of the atonement of Jesus Christ on the cross alone. The Good News is that even Christians can be saved!

I’ll take the Good News every time,

Pastor Mark