The Gospel of Goodies

Yesterday Becky and I attended a Sunday school class lead by our good friends and five time Manti vets, T&J M. They were teaching a series called, “The Way of the Master.” http://www.wayofthemaster.com/ Through this series Christians learn how to use the Ten Commandments to convict sinners of their need for to Christ.

Yesterday’s session talked about how most people present the gospel as “a wonderful plan that God has for their life” and how that waters down the message and ultimately does not meet the eternal need of the individual person. There was one section of the video shown in class where Kirk Cameron was asking people what they thought of when they were presented with the idea that God is offering them a life of fulfillment. The answers varied, but they were all along the lines of receiving material blessings.

As I was watching this segment, the thought occurred to me, “Why are so many churches asking people to come to Jesus with the offer of a false hope of a life with little trouble or trial?” From listening to many popular preachers, one could easily get the idea that if you just come to Jesus, all of your problems will vanish. This is not what Jesus said.

John 15:20- “Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A slave is not greater than his master ‘ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you; if they kept My word, they will keep yours also.”

If we are promised persecution, then we are bearing false witness against Jesus when we tell people that coming to Him will solve all of their problems… unless, of course, you think that persecution is no problem.