The premise of this
entire presentation is centered on the concept that “God is love.” The speaker reiterates over and over this
particular phrase in order to support each of his points, being sure to
emphasize only this attribute. He
further claims that God sent Jesus in order to show and demonstrate this love
while making it clear that the world is in need of it. He even goes as far to say that the
“Christian story” began with the announcement that God is love and he sent his
son to show it to the world.
After repeatedly establishing the
sole attribute of God and his purpose for sending Jesus, the speaker then
deduces the implications of the love he mentioned before. Freedom, as he calls it, does not come along
with love, but is necessitated by it.
Love is not even an option without freedom, and freedom is choice. Additionally, there are consequences to
making the choice to resist this love, although these consequences are never
mentioned.
When rhetorically asking the
audience what God is like, the speaker gives what he thinks are a few common
answers that people would give in response to that question, casting them all
in a negative light. He concludes them
by saying that “that’s not the good news.
The good news is better than that.”
This good news that he speaks of is once again that God is love and God
is good. Expounding no further, he
leaves it simply as that.
Finally, the speaker finishes of his
presentation with what he thinks Christians should be. According to him, the foremost thought that
should come to people when they think of Christians is how loving their God
is. Because God is love and he sent
Jesus into the world to show his love, Christians should always be known
firstly for their love.
While this presentation sure sounds
appealing, identifying it as a counterfeit is no difficult task even though
most of what the speaker said was primarily true. God is love. He did send his son to show his love to
the world. Christians should
be known for their love.
However, it is not the pieces he included that disqualify this
presentation from being a full gospel message, but the ones that are blatantly
and intentionally excluded.
The first part of the three-legged
stool, as Wax calls it in Counterfeit
Gospels, is the gospel story. This
story, according to the speaker, is that God is love and he sent his son to the
world so it would know his love. The
redemption part of the story is quite obvious, but what is not quite as clear
is exactly what the world is being redeemed from. The focus is completely on God’s goodness and
love, leaving his judgment of human sinfulness and rebellion out of the mix
entirely. Oddly enough, the speaker
details the gospel announcement in the exact same way, disregarding the need
for God’s justice.
The description of believers is perhaps
the most fooling incorrect aspect of the gospel the speaker presents of all and
perhaps the most grievous. If Christians
are only significantly remembered for their love, what really separates them
from the rest of the world? Without the
escape from any sort of judgment, there is no grace involved in this love. Therefore, the love of the Christian kind
cannot be so different than that of what many other groups claim to have. Lines dissolved, Christians start to blend in
with the rest of the world, claiming to have nothing unique.
The culmination of the entire
presentation is a judgmentless gospel where there is nothing to be redeemed
from. God sounds like a great loving
friend but no more. He has nothing
substantial to offer that could actually restore a life. This gospel is a hopeless one without the
impending judgment of mankind’s sinfulness.
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