An Essential Gospel
Could it be that the reason we feel compelled to respond to every news story is due to our confusion on what is essential?
It may be that most pastors don’t struggle like I do but it is common for me to want to respond to every event in the new cycle. C19, Plandemic and a host of other news items call out to me to post or respond. It can fill our social media feeds with confusion as followers of Jesus are led to pick sides on matters that are not essential to the gospel of Jesus.
The Apostle Paul faced a similar situation that may have been even more complex. He faced religious systems that were rooted in thousands of years of Jewish history and since the resurrection of Christ there was a debate as to what was essential to the gospel. What part of Judaism should Gentiles embrace? In our case, what opinions should be voiced publicly about current social challenges of our day? What view should a follower of Jesus embrace? It is this same question that stands before us today. What is essential to the gospel?
I have not posted anything about C19. I have not shared the Plandemic video on social media. I have not voiced my opinions about the nature / degree of the response of any political leader or state. The reason is because I don’t believe my response is essential to the gospel…at least not yet. Don’t get me wrong - I have strong feelings about all this. I keep those feelings close so as not to divide one follower of Jesus from another.
Paul could have spoken out against the injustice of Roman persecution and even Jewish persecution. It does not appear to be a primary focus for him. He focused on the good news of Jesus and the power of the Holy Spirit to transform a life. For Paul, he could reduce the list of things to avoid to refusing to eat meat sacrificed to idols and abstaining from all forms of sexual immorality. Everything else was a message of hope and redemption found in Christ alone. Paul placed a great deal of trust in the Holy Spirit to speak truth and in followers of Jesus to obey that truth.
As followers of Jesus, we need to recapture the heart of the gospel, the essential gospel. Once we have discovered what is essential to the gospel, we need to focus more of our message on that essential gospel. We were once divided by Trump / Obama, Republican / Democrat and other matters that surrounded these camps. Now we are divided by masks / no masks, quarantine / no quarantine, business closed / open and dare I say there could soon be an attempt to divide based on when congregations gather on campus for worship again.
So what do we do? We pursue Jesus and be a neighbor to our neighbor. The gospel is pretty simple at its foundation. It is powerful in its application. It is empowered by the Spirit in its life. What is essential to the gospel? Spend time there and you will find a great deal more peace as the news cycle changes from C19 to something that is soon to try and divide us.