McDonald’s Faith
Today as I listened to a podcast from David Platt (4.13.2008), the teaching pastor at Brook Hills, I was greatly encouraged and discouraged at the same time. It is like finding out as a kid that you are going to get to go to Six Flags and then you hear thunder, or seeing that there is some coke left in the two liter only to find that it is totally flat as you spit it in the sink. Only this good and bad news does not have to end bad...it's just that it normally does. I was encouraged to hear David break down what the Gospel is and what it is not...it is the power of God that shows us the character of God that leads us to the Son of God who absorbs the wrath of God for the Glory of God so that we can worship and know God...God is the Gospel...He is the end....he did not word it like that but that is what I took away from it. I was discouraged to hear and agree with him that most of the time the Gospel is presented it is done so in a fast food kind of way, a get down the aisle, sign the card, raise your hand after a simple statement like..."just ask Jesus to come into your heart" without any talk of what that even means. I guess there is often the assumption that everyone else has been doing their part as the body of Christ and has been sharing the Gospel with each other and their friends before Sunday or Wednesday or any other time Christians get together to dress up nice and smile. Before I go on, I am guilty. I have done this...to some degree or another. Also, the reason is often so that "you will have a great life, you will get to go to heaven, you will have a new best friend...etc". It is a mecentric message that benifits the church or organization with many new members ready to be served and counted on Sunday. My pastor Rick Statham presented the Gospel in a unique way over the weekend in front of 5000+ people...I will not share the details but I will say that he hammered down awesomely that the gift is GOD!
I was reminded of a friend that was part of a church plant in another state that would not even use the word sin. Now this is more extreme than what I have said above, but it is somewhat the same...it is not the Gospel. The explanation, when I asked, was that they did not want people to feel bad!!!! Yikes! An aspect of the beauty of the cross for me is that my huge ugly sin was taken care of as Jesus drank all the punishment of God's wrath from the cup and finished it off. I don't need a new buddy who thinks I'm cool and gives me props as I play Rock Band on expert....I need a Savior.
I was motivated by David's love for his church and the Word and the Gospel. I want to present the Gospel for what it is, not what we have made it. I have much to think about.
