Does the gospel, as presented today, have any interest to those outside the Christian faith? In my own discussions with people, I have yet to find any interest in discussing salvation or the gospel. People have more that interests them than the message we present. Could it be that the message we present is so far from the original that it has lost not on it’s power but it’s relevance in people’s life?
Some of the following thoughts were sparked by reading Ron Martioa’s new book called Static. Some are thoughts that I personally have had examining change theories. I admit that these may challenge you deeply; but it is a challenge that must be undertaken in trying to communicate the message of Christ in a new culture.
We have reduced the gospel and abbreviated it’s story. The gospel is about getting people a house in God’s heavenly subdivision. But what if a 4/2 ranch house on a cul-de-sac is simply the by-product of the gospel and not the newsflash that we should be sharing?
Does Jesus’ dying on the cross for our sins so that we can go to heaven paint an accurate picture of what those in the first century would have used to explain the gospel? While I understand how this is important for those in the Christian faith, it doesn’t seem that Jesus, John the Baptist, or even Paul associated heaven and the gospel. It appears to be more of a by-product.
The background for the word gospel comes from Isaiah 40 and Isaiah 52. In Is. 40, Isaiah established an expectation that there would come a day when one would emerge who would prepare the way out. It would coincide with Israel being rallied from exile. The breaking news, the good news, or the gospel would be that whoever was in charge would wither away like the grass and God would reign as king. When John the Baptist came on the scene quoting Is. 40, you can imagine the reaction of the people who heard it.
In Is 52, what is the good news expressed here? The good news is that there is someone is coming who will say to Jerusalem, “God Reigns! He’s the king!”
What would the listeners of Isaiah’s gospel understand when the John proclaimed the good tidings? They would have heard that salvation has arrived. Be careful not to insert our own meaning for that word there. We think salvation “is some sort of possession we get after reciting a prayer that ensures we are saved from the fires of hell and are given a seat in the afterlife, usually called heaven. (Martoia, Static, pg 33)” But what the Isrealites heard was that there was coming an end to their exile and an end to foreign rulers. The king would be restored to the throne and they would be free and whole and experience peace.
In the Greek world, the word euangelion (“gospel”) was used to announce a great victory, an important birth, or the enthronement of a new king. The coming of a new king meant the beginning of a new world order and peace was anticipated.
What if we looked at these cultural understandings of “gospel” to help us understand our message? From the Old Testament we would come to recognize that the king is finally on his way. And from the Greco-Roman world, we would see that the announcement of Jesus as King would be a direct challenge to the claims of Caesar. With the coming of the new king who supercedes the son of god enthroned at Rome, the oppression will end, and we can finally be whole and live in peace.
