The Gospel - Pt 3

Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise prophecies, but test everything; hold fast what is good. Abstain from every form of evil. (1 Thessalonians 5:19-22 ESV).

What we have been looking at the last few days is discernment that leads to the experience of abundant life. The skill of discernment is learning to reject what is false, but more importantly, to eagerly embrace what is precious. Gospel discernment helps us know the difference, in order to keep the truth pure so that we can earnestly embrace and celebrate it. This means we treasure the many messages that make the answers clear on the primary questions, because they are likely to be the very best way to help us make sense of all the other questions. I am also convinced that the church will be healthier and happier as she becomes more and more skilled in discernment, more tuned into the gospel, and more skilled in knowing what to cherish. Discernment is a calling for us all. Since the Morning Devotionals is intended to be both brief and instructional I will focus on four categories that represent a very common error in the interpretation and development of a pure and accurate gospel in our current culture. The first we will see often is what has come to be known as a therapeutic gospel. In his chapter entitled “The Grand Inquisitor,” Fyodor Dostoevsky imagines Jesus returning to sixteenth century Spain (The Brothers Karamazov, II:5:v). But Jesus is not welcomed by church authorities. The cardinal of Seville, head of the Inquisition, arrests and imprisons Jesus, condemning him to die. The church has shifted course. It has decided to meet instinctual human cravings, rather than calling men to repentance. It has decided to bend its message to felt needs, rather than calling forth the high, holy, and difficult freedom of faith working through love. Jesus’ biblical example and message are deemed too hard for weak souls, and the church has decided to make it easy. Sound a bit contemporary? Today, we see shelves full of self-help books with the “steps” to a full life, purpose, or success in our personal endeavors. We like those books. They are easier than the life of the gospel. We like being saved by becoming self-authenticated and affirmed; we desire to be saved from self-destructive negativity; and, we want to be saved for self-confidence. In this gospel, the great “evils” to be redressed do not call for any fundamental change of direction in the human heart. Instead, we see the problem in our sense of rejection from others; in my corrosive experience of life’s vanity; in my nervous sense of self-condemnation and diffidence; in the imminent threat of boredom if my music is turned off; in my fussy complaints when a long, hard road lies ahead. Jesus and the church exist to make one feel loved, significant, validated, and entertained. The logic of this therapeutic gospel is a Jesus-for-Me who meets individual desires and assuages psychic aches. That’s simply wrong. Properly understood, carefully interpreted, the felt needs make good gifts. But they make poor gods. Get first things first. Seek first the Father’s kingdom and his righteousness, and every other good gift will be added to you.