Last night I sat in a nearby college library, reading J.B. Phillips's classic book, Your God Is Too Small. Only 124 pages, the book took an hour to read. Phillips, an acquaintance of C.S. Lewis, wrote in the 1950s, when the effects of World War II, the developing Cold War, fears of nuclear war, and the emergence of television, air travel, and other technologies were shaping the culture.
"Many people today have not found a God big enough for modern needs," he wrote. "While their experience of life has grown in a score of directions, and their mental horizons have been expanded to the point of bewilderment … their ideas of God have remained largely static." He listed several inadequate understandings of God that he observed around him, including God as "pale Galilean" or "resident policeman" or "God-in-a-box" before describing a fuller understanding of God and his purposes in the post-war years.
In the spirit of Phillips, this year Leadership is asking a similar question about the core of church life: the gospel.
How do the people in your church understand the gospel? How do you? As we began asking, "What is the gospel?" we usually heard first the technical definition: "It's the good news, from the Greek eu- (good) angelion (news or message)."
Asked for more specifics, some said it's the proclamation of God's saving activity: "Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, he was buried, and he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures" (1 Cor. 15:3-4).
Others said the gospel isn't just what God did, but the message Jesus taught: "Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God. 'The time has come,' he said. 'The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news!'" (Mark 1:14-15).
Still others suggest that the gospel is not just a message but a gift of opportunity in response to the message, often described as: "Accept Jesus as your personal savior, and you'll be saved."
Yet others say the gospel isn't just a moment of decision but a way of life, lived out in obedience to the teachings of Jesus, starting with "Love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and love your neighbor as yourself."
And a few said the gospel is good news for all people on earth, as suggested in the Lord's prayer: "your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven."
Wow. There's a wideness in our understandings of the gospel, isn't there?
As part of a yearlong Christian Vision Project emphasis, we'll feature at least one article on this question in each issue of Leadership in 2008, and in the current issue, we'll explore specifically the ways the Bible guides our ministries.
I don't think we'll settle everything with these articles, but we will certainly enlarge our understanding.
"Is our gospel too small?" Not if we can help it.
Marshall Shelley is editor of Leadership journal.
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