Is the Gospel Enough?

My desire is to point you to the cross and remind you of the redemptive work of Jesus Christ. The reason I so desire to point you the cross is because I firmly believe that there is nothing more beautiful in this world then Jesus Christ. There in lies my dilemma. I am not sure the “American Church” believes this, that is, the beauty of the Gospel.



You see I firmly believe that the Gospel is perfectly written, it has no need for us to add anything to it, but we Americans feel like we have to. So we share the Gospel through an existential approach, that is we emphasis our experience, or what we call in Christian circles our testimony. Do we not believe that the Gospel testifies for itself? If God has something to do with the Bible being written can’t we just share that with people and allow the Holy Spirit to work as it would. For the pundits, I understand the need for a personal testimony, what I am saying is most American Christians do not realize how cultured evangelism has become.


So hear is why I have been waking up early and staying up late, I do not believe that we “Christians” firmly believe in the beauty of Jesus Christ. Here is my reasoning. First, we try to sell people on the Gospel. You can’t say that we don’t because our actions dictate otherwise. We use the same approach that businesses use. We market our Church. We advertise right next to all the other organizations that only want money. That may not be what we want to tell people, but it is. Then, when people do show up to church we tell them how good God is through an existential testimony.


Now, here is the side effect of us the church using corporate evangelism as a tool, it takes the personal responsibility of believers to live like Christ and completely demolishes it. Then, we as church leaders, wonder why our members are not evangelistic. Well the answer is because we have trained them not be. In fact, we told them not to worry about it because we will take care of it by using a business approach to market our organization.


So here is what I want to scream, “stop trying to sell Jesus, and start living like Jesus.” Here is why: disciples of Jesus Christ are attractive and Jesus Christ is even more attractive. Authentic Christ followers will attract the world hungry for redemption. We do not need to advertise love. How can you advertise love if it is shared relationally? So I am challenging all leaders in our church’s to ask themselves if they truly believe that Jesus Christ is attractive. If you do believe, then start acting like it. Stop adding to the Gospel and START LIVING IT OUT!


So, here is what I am proposing–that we, as the body of Christ, create disciples that will facilitate the spreading of the Gospel naturally through love. That is how families grow, through a relationship founded on love. That is what the Church of Jesus Christ is, a family, right? Then we should grow through the perfect bond of unity, love.


~J~