Shopping for the Gospel

What's the classic questions being asked by consumers these days? Probably top on the list are the questions, "How good is the product?" and "What's the benefit for me?"

As Christians swimming in a highly consumerist culture, we have had to modify our approach when sharing the gospel. Our response has become, "What's the benefit? Well, going to heaven, of course?" That's the American gospel. Receive Jesus by faith so you will go to heaven. The leading edge question of evangelism has become, "When you die, where will you go?" Put another way, "Friend, are you going to heaven?"

Is that really the gospel? Did Jesus die on a cross, receive life back by the power of God three days later so that people would go to heaven when they die? Or were there other reasons for Jesus death and resurrection?

I praise God that because I know Christ personally, my future does not include hell! I'm also glad that according to John 11:26, I will live forever. But is the gospel only relevant at the point of death?

Take a look at the first few verses in John 17 and notice how Jesus defines eternal life. Eternal life seems to be more than just a life-insurance policy. Eternal life is receiving the capacity to enjoy in-depth relationship with God NOW. Eternal life seems to be an ability to intimately walk with God so that we are able to take on the mind of Christ, the attitudes of Christ, the motivations of Christ, even the power of Christ and live in His presence NOW while ushering in His Kingdom on this earth.

I'm thinking that is the gospel.

Following Jesus for the Sake of Others

An article in the news caught my eye. It was titled "9 Signs of America in Decline". Here are the opening lines.

The sky isn't falling, exactly. America isn't on a fast track to irrelevance. Even in a state of total neglect, we could probably shamble along as a disheveled superpower for a few more decades.

But all empires end, and the warning signs of American decline seem to be blinking more consistently. In the latest annual "prosperity index" published by the Legatum Institute, a London-based research firm, the United States ranks as the ninth most prosperous country in the world. That's five notches lower than last year, when America ranked No. 4.

The article went on to say that the United States is among only 5 countries in the world where the "life satisfaction" index is in decline. I'm not sure how this Institute measures happiness but their finding was this: Happiness in America is in decline.

I don't have any inside track on all the reasons why happiness in America might be in decline if in fact this study is accurate. But if there is a decline in "life satisfaction" in America, could part of it be that we have become so consumed with ourselves in America, so protective of our own, so focused and fearful of losing what is ours that we have lost sight of the simple joy of assisting others through life.

If that's part of the equation, I think we who are followers of Jesus, growing in our desire to follow Him for the sake of others will experience more and more the abundance of life Jesus offers. Not to mention the fact that we will shine brighter and brighter as the world around us seems to be getting darker and darker. I remember John Wimber once said, "Things are going to get better and better and worse and worse at the same time.