 | | | |
    the good, the bad, and the ugly
lane palmer
I know you can hear the theme song in your head, right? The eerie whistle that hauntingly bellows ‘oooo-weee-oooo-weee-oooo…wah-wah-wah...”.
OK, maybe I’m just a Clint Eastwood-Spaghetti-Western freak, but The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly has one of the coolest opening movie theme songs ever.
I recently thought about that movie as I read through the first chapter of the book of Galatians. Let me explain:
The Apostle Paul’s words in chapter one are so strong that it makes you almost shudder, ". . . even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned!" and then he repeats it again for emphasis.
Why? Because in his mind there are only three ways to present the gospel message: good, bad, and ugly. Let’s talk about the bad first.
The words "eternally condemned" have a pretty straightforward meaning: "let them go to ‘h-e-double toothpicks’ pronto!" As a matter of fact it seems like Paul has got a toothpick in his side when he writes these words to those damned (quite literally) heretics that plagued him wherever he went: the legalistic Judaizers who presented the gospel in a BAD way.
These smooth talking dudes carried an Old Testament scroll in one hand, and a newly sharpened scalpel in the other. They added something "bad" to the gospel (aka "circumcision" . . . aka "ouch") to satisfy their legalistic hunger. Why? Because they believed that these newly converted Gentiles were disgusting. These "Gentile dogs" needed to, at the very minimum, get circumcised if they were to be acceptable to the Jewish Christians of churches of Galatia.
But wait . . . there’s more.
These Judaizers really wanted these Gentiles to follow the law of Moses as well. They wanted them to convert to a kind of Christian/Judaism mix.
Paul reacts with bewilderment, fury and disdain. The book of Galatians is the result. Can’t you just hear it in the background? oooo-weee-oooo-weee-oooo…wah-wah-wah...”....bad Galatians! Bad! Bad!”
Granted, I don’t know of very many gospel presentations these days that include circumcision, but there are plenty that are essentially doing the same thing, which is adding something to the faith element of salvation. For example:
- Water Baptism
- Confirmation
- Saying a prayer
- Walking an aisle
- Confession
- Turning over a new leaf
- Turning from all your sin (I’ve yet to meet the dude that could pull this one off)
- Stopping smoking
- Surrendering all (not met this dude either)
- Going to church
- Obeying the ten commandments (good luck with that)
- etc. etc. etc.
Bad! Bad! Bad!
It is only through the grace of God that we are saved. We trust in Jesus alone for the free gift of salvation and he gives it to us, no strings attached. Those who seek to add strings are weaving a spiritual noose for themselves. Just remember - add = bad!
Now let’s talk about the ugly. Ugly isn’t the same as bad as in adding anything to the gospel, but it does confuse the message. This is a gospel presentation that takes the crystal clear message and throws in unclear terms that muddy the message. What terms? Let me sling a few your way:
- washed in the blood of the Lamb
- turn or burn
- ask Jesus in to your heart
- just say the sinner’s prayer
- do the hokeypokey and turn yourself around
OK, so I made up that last one…but I think you catch my drift. Gospel presentations that confuse people are ugly because they take a simple message and mess it up almost beyond recognition.
What Paul is getting at in Galatians is the desperate need for all believers to share the crystal clear gospel of grace with crystal clear terminology. Don’t add and make it bad, don’t confuse and make it ugly.
A good gospel presentation follows the pattern of the Apostle John, who uses the word "believe" 98 times (i.e. to trust in or fully rely on) when sharing the good news. In other words, it isn’t turn or burn, it’s believe and receive.
Also, a good gospel presentation tells the whole story of the Bible from Genesis to Revelation. In other words, don’t start with the bad news from Genesis 3, begin in Genesis 1 with the great news that God created us to be with Him.
At Dare 2 Share Ministries, one of our passions is to motivate and train teenagers to share the gospel message in a good way. That’s why we put together a tool called The Gospel Journey to help guide them as they share the good news in a good way with their friends. This presentation reveals the thread of redemption that runs through all of Scripture, all the while keeping the story simple.
Some would say that this simple faith is 'too easy'. But how easy is it to believe in a Person I never met to take me to a place I've never been? It's so easy a child could do it and so difficult that it takes an act of God to make it happen!"Some might also argue that since most Americans have already heard the gospel message, we need to just follow St. Francis’ advice: "Preach the gospel, if necessary, use words." Sorry St. Francis, but the gospel most people have heard isn’t good news at all. It’s either a bad gospel that puts a price tag on a free gift, or one that’s so ugly…(wait for it) if it walked by a bathroom, the toilet would flush itself!
Bottom line: stop for a moment and think about the gospel message you are presenting to those around you. Does it focus on what Jesus has done for us or what we "must do" for Jesus? Does it add anything, and I mean anything, to simple faith alone in Christ alone? Does it overtly or covertly infuse self-effort into the free gift of God’s grace? Does it throw in unclear terms that unneccesarily confuses people?
If it does, drop the bad and lose the ugly, because the dark and dying world needs the crystal clear gospel of grace shared with crystal clear terminology!
...
http://www.simplyyouthministry.com/community-articles-dare2share.html
lane palmer
I know you can hear the theme song in your head, right? The eerie whistle that hauntingly bellows ‘oooo-weee-oooo-weee-oooo…wah-wah-wah...”.
OK, maybe I’m just a Clint Eastwood-Spaghetti-Western freak, but The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly has one of the coolest opening movie theme songs ever.
I recently thought about that movie as I read through the first chapter of the book of Galatians. Let me explain:
The Apostle Paul’s words in chapter one are so strong that it makes you almost shudder, ". . . even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned!" and then he repeats it again for emphasis.
Why? Because in his mind there are only three ways to present the gospel message: good, bad, and ugly. Let’s talk about the bad first.
The words "eternally condemned" have a pretty straightforward meaning: "let them go to ‘h-e-double toothpicks’ pronto!" As a matter of fact it seems like Paul has got a toothpick in his side when he writes these words to those damned (quite literally) heretics that plagued him wherever he went: the legalistic Judaizers who presented the gospel in a BAD way.
These smooth talking dudes carried an Old Testament scroll in one hand, and a newly sharpened scalpel in the other. They added something "bad" to the gospel (aka "circumcision" . . . aka "ouch") to satisfy their legalistic hunger. Why? Because they believed that these newly converted Gentiles were disgusting. These "Gentile dogs" needed to, at the very minimum, get circumcised if they were to be acceptable to the Jewish Christians of churches of Galatia.
But wait . . . there’s more.
These Judaizers really wanted these Gentiles to follow the law of Moses as well. They wanted them to convert to a kind of Christian/Judaism mix.
Paul reacts with bewilderment, fury and disdain. The book of Galatians is the result. Can’t you just hear it in the background? oooo-weee-oooo-weee-oooo…wah-wah-wah...”....bad Galatians! Bad! Bad!”
Granted, I don’t know of very many gospel presentations these days that include circumcision, but there are plenty that are essentially doing the same thing, which is adding something to the faith element of salvation. For example:
- Water Baptism
- Confirmation
- Saying a prayer
- Walking an aisle
- Confession
- Turning over a new leaf
- Turning from all your sin (I’ve yet to meet the dude that could pull this one off)
- Stopping smoking
- Surrendering all (not met this dude either)
- Going to church
- Obeying the ten commandments (good luck with that)
- etc. etc. etc.
Bad! Bad! Bad!
It is only through the grace of God that we are saved. We trust in Jesus alone for the free gift of salvation and he gives it to us, no strings attached. Those who seek to add strings are weaving a spiritual noose for themselves. Just remember - add = bad!
Now let’s talk about the ugly. Ugly isn’t the same as bad as in adding anything to the gospel, but it does confuse the message. This is a gospel presentation that takes the crystal clear message and throws in unclear terms that muddy the message. What terms? Let me sling a few your way:
- washed in the blood of the Lamb
- turn or burn
- ask Jesus in to your heart
- just say the sinner’s prayer
- do the hokeypokey and turn yourself around
OK, so I made up that last one…but I think you catch my drift. Gospel presentations that confuse people are ugly because they take a simple message and mess it up almost beyond recognition.
What Paul is getting at in Galatians is the desperate need for all believers to share the crystal clear gospel of grace with crystal clear terminology. Don’t add and make it bad, don’t confuse and make it ugly.
A good gospel presentation follows the pattern of the Apostle John, who uses the word "believe" 98 times (i.e. to trust in or fully rely on) when sharing the good news. In other words, it isn’t turn or burn, it’s believe and receive.
Also, a good gospel presentation tells the whole story of the Bible from Genesis to Revelation. In other words, don’t start with the bad news from Genesis 3, begin in Genesis 1 with the great news that God created us to be with Him.
At Dare 2 Share Ministries, one of our passions is to motivate and train teenagers to share the gospel message in a good way. That’s why we put together a tool called The Gospel Journey to help guide them as they share the good news in a good way with their friends. This presentation reveals the thread of redemption that runs through all of Scripture, all the while keeping the story simple.
Some would say that this simple faith is 'too easy'. But how easy is it to believe in a Person I never met to take me to a place I've never been? It's so easy a child could do it and so difficult that it takes an act of God to make it happen!"Some might also argue that since most Americans have already heard the gospel message, we need to just follow St. Francis’ advice: "Preach the gospel, if necessary, use words." Sorry St. Francis, but the gospel most people have heard isn’t good news at all. It’s either a bad gospel that puts a price tag on a free gift, or one that’s so ugly…(wait for it) if it walked by a bathroom, the toilet would flush itself!
Bottom line: stop for a moment and think about the gospel message you are presenting to those around you. Does it focus on what Jesus has done for us or what we "must do" for Jesus? Does it add anything, and I mean anything, to simple faith alone in Christ alone? Does it overtly or covertly infuse self-effort into the free gift of God’s grace? Does it throw in unclear terms that unneccesarily confuses people?
If it does, drop the bad and lose the ugly, because the dark and dying world needs the crystal clear gospel of grace shared with crystal clear terminology!
... |
|
|
|
