Not All Gospels Are ‘Gospel.’

When we turn to God from the heart, seeking to recover our “first love,” we awaken to the Gospel as a glorious Romance.  Not merely a set of principles to be mastered, or a plethora of programs to get involved in {or bound under ...depending on whether one actually wants to be involved}.  First and foremost, the Gospel is a love affair with God.  Following the Biblical imagery of Bride and Groom, it is God as Lover and us as His Beloved— never resting, never stopping, never ceasing to pursue us to the end of ourselves and love us in that place, setting us free by His sacrifice and as Peter said of the Gentiles in Acts 15, “purifying our hearts by faith” {v. 9}.

Now that is Good News— Grand News, Glorious News!  It opens up a whole New World before us, one where we soon discover the heart is absolutely vital to Life in the Spirit of Christ— Abba’s heart and our hearts.  We begin to taste {maybe for the first time} what Jesus meant in John 10:10 when He said He came to give us “Life— to the limit.”

A second bit of Spirit-inspired insight usually follows hard on the heels of the first: We live in a World at War.  Anyone {and I mean anyone} seeking to know God deeply, genuinely, intimately, finds the Romance opposed… at every turn.  It seems we have an enemy, a “thief” who “comes to steal, kill, and destroy”— steal our joy, kill our hearts, and destroy our lives.  This then leads us to wonder, “Where will I find some allies in this Conflict??  Who can I take this Journey with, who will battle beside me in the Life of Faith?”

Here’s what I’m trying to get to.  There are a lot of different “Gospels” being preached out there {just as there were in Paul’s day} and they are not all the same— cf. Galatians 1.  In fact, many are as the Apostle said, “No gospels at all.”  They give us no clarity on what it means to walk deeply with God, no entrance into the intimacy which Scripture describes as the normal Christian Life.  The normal, not exceptional.  I mean, honestly, what good would a book of exceptions do you?  Not much!

Many churches, many pastors, many ministries, do not recognize the centrality of the heart, do not believe in spiritual warfare, and they definitely do not see the Gospel as a Love Affair between a Father and His wayward Children.  They see it rather as a set of propositions, ‘tips and techniques’ for managing a fallen life, a magic ‘formula’ for faith.  I don’t now about you, but I don’t want to ‘manage a fallen life’ and I definitely don’t want a formula for it!  I want to live a victorious Life!  I don’t want to still be bound by the same sins, the same faults, the same flaws five years from now.  They don’t teach people that intimacy with God is the purpose of our lives, that we were made and meant for communion with our Creator, that the greatest and most profound action we are capable of is to “love Him with all our heart, soul, mind and strength; and from the power and purity of that relationship to love those around us ...and love them well.”

When you set the critical categories of real Life aside, you have to replace them with something.  Typically, the ‘busyness’ of religiosity, programs for programs’ sake, an information-only Christianity, or social service.  Once you take the heart out of anything connected to God, it becomes like the rule-ridden Judaism of the Scribes and the Pharisees— soul-killing.  Intimacy with God becomes an afterthought.  And then we’re surprised {as shepherds, leaders, communicators} that most folks have no idea how to find it.

To experience the Fellowship of Faith painted in the Scriptures, we need intimate involvement in the lives of those we love.  To have this intimate involvement, we must know another soul; and to know the soul of another, you must know their Story.  You must see the life and heart of the person beside you and behind you and before you in the context of their Story.  Period.  This takes time and patience and perseverance, and above all, the willingness to learn how to listen to someone else.  We live in a world where every last one of us is screaming to be heard— but precious few who are eager to hear.  But when you come to a place of empathy and understanding with another Follower of Jesus, it’s beautiful.  You begin to see who they really are, as opposed to who you think they are, instead of a five minute analysis of their life, character, conscience and convictions.  You begin to see why they are where they are, and how to help them along the Path of Life.

And this, by the way, is what a Body does, a living— breathing— thinking— feeling— acting— serving organism.  This is the challenge for each of us from the Spirit of the Living God.  To pray together, play together, and stay together!

HJC	Ric Webb  |  Shepherd Heart’s Journey Community 9621 Tall Timber Blvd. |  Little Rock, AR 72204 t +1.501.455.0296
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Heart’s Journey – Live Generously and Love Graciously