What is the gospel?
That is what Katie asked the group last week. We had finished reading Galatians 1 where Paul seems pretty sure about it. He is sure that there is a gospel, and that he has the right one.
Katie asked the group “so what is the gospel?” She then asked “and what is grace?”
We talked about it a bit and then (as I mentioned on the Week 1 Debrief podcast) I offered my working definition:
“The Gospel is the good news that God loves the whole world and did something for us in Christ that we can not do for ourselves.”
I have worked on this a lot over the past 15 years and have grown quite comfortable with it. It includes:
- good news (literally the definition of the word gospel)
- the whole world (John 3:16)
- grace (a gift of what we can not earn)
I would love it even if it just existed in a vacuum and I never talked with anyone about it.
The reality, however, is that everywhere it comes up, people REALLY want to talk about it!
The response follows a typical bell-curve. Most people like it or at least get it. But there is a tail on either side of a small minority who object at some level (but for completely different reasons).
For those who have a very particular understanding of the gospel, my working definition is not specific enough. It doesn’t say anything about asking Jesus into your heart, praying a specific prayer, believing certain things, believing them certainly, or going to heaven after you die.
On the opposite side, for those who hold that Jesus is one way (a path) to God, my working definition is too narrow. It sounds as if Jesus was unique in human history and in religious thought.
This is why the ‘gospel’ conversation is one of my favorites.
What do you think? How would you answer the question? What is your working definition?
[I originally wrote this for PBS but wanted to share it here as well]
Bo Sanders: Public Theology 