Sunday, February 13, 2011
Delivering the Gospel, is there a wrong way?
Is there a wrong way to deliver the Gospel? Is there a line of reverence that should never be crossed? If so, what is that line? What about worship? Is there a line when it comes to reverence of worship? I would love some response to this. You can even post anonymously if you wish. I know what I believe, I just want some serious feedback.
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Is this a catch-22 thing? Or maybe I'm not understanding the question. Because if I tell you what I think are bad ways, you might argue back that the deliverers in my examples weren't truly delivering the gospel.
ReplyDeleteAnd know from the start, I'm not trying to start or win a debate in any way. I'm just trying to give a forthright answer to what I think is an intriguing question.
That said, two examples of people who profess or have professed to be spreading Christianity in a way that I would consider wrong are:
The Inquisition. Ultimately the goal there wasn't to spread the word of Christ, but that's the reasoning they gave while torturing and killing untold numbers of people.
Benny Hinn and others of his ilk who (in my opinion) use the promise of salvation and faith-healing as a way to squeeze money out of people in need.
Is that what you're asking?
The Inquisition was the Roman Catholic Church's attempt to force conversion and was not preaching of the Gospel. This heinous act was the Roman Catholic Church at its worst. Forced conversion is no conversion. So you are correct about it not being the preaching of the gospel.
ReplyDeleteNow Benny Hinn, ugh. I have never heard him preach the gospel. I have seen him abuse people for their money while using Scripture. You are right that he is ilk but pray for him that he will repent for what he is doing.
It is not a catch 22 and while you are very close, neither of these two mentioned used the gospel, not the gospel as contained in Scripture anyhow.
This is one of those instances where email can misrepresent the tone intended, so know that my response is sincere and not sarcastic:
ReplyDeleteI always thought the Gospel was the news of Christ - His life, actions, teachings, death, resurrection and the salvation that Christ brings to those who believe, repent and ask Jesus to be their lord and savior and are baptised. (Not to veer off into the actual baptism vs. physical baptism...).
So, do you mean by "deliver" the gospel...lead someone to Christ?...or simply tell them about Christ? Because I always thought the Gospel was the news alone and not the actual salvation that comes from acting upon that news. But I don't know.
If it's simply the telling of Christ, then I think those examples of people using (albeit misrepresenting) the Gospel for their own twisted ends are valid. And I think people do it all the time.
And try not to sneeze from the virtual dust as I crack my online Bible open, but I always thought that these were the type of people Jesus was talking about in Matthew 7:21-23.
(And believe it or not I actually knew the basic gist of this verse, although I didn't know where it was.:) )
You are spot on with what the gospel is and is not. If you ever listen or research our pal Benny you will see that the gospel he preaches and the Jesus he refers to is not the Jesus of Scripture. Many people preach about Jesus but when you hold up the man they are preaching about is not the Creator, Savior, Sustainer. It is close, just enough to get you to open the wallet but a close Jesus is not the real Jesus. Sort of like Oprah. In one breath she says she believes in Jesus and then on the exhale she says there is more than one way to heaven. You see then the Jesus she believes in is not the one of Scripture because the one in Scripture says, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life, no man comes to the Father except by me." See the difference? Benny's Jesus is like Oprah's Jesus. I am encouraged by your knowledge of the god news!
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