So just what is the Good News? It is the happier life that some preach? Is it the wholeness that a Christian experiences? Is it all the friends you will meet at all of the great pot-lucks you will attend at church? Maybe the Good news is that we are to love one another. Perhaps one can’t understand the Good News in only a day, so 40 days becomes necessary.

I believe many of these examples to be good things, and they are among the most used strategies for American Christians in their “Jesus Marketing Strategy” as they try to advance the gospel in ways that lack boldness and cater to the world’s desires, at least the desires of the last focus group. You know, I searched through a concordance and a Bible dictionary, and was unable to find any mention of focus groups anywhere in the Bible. Could that mean that we are to concentrate on individuals, rather than groups? And then, would the individuals who respond be assimilated into our group and assume their part of the body of Christ, which is the church?

What a novel idea!

1 Corinthians 1:22-24
For Jews request a sign, and Greeks seek after wisdom; but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.

Emphasis mine

As you look through the early New Testament church, you will find example after example of early Christians preaching the professional crucifixion and the resurrection of Christ, which is the Good News. There is no bumper sticker theology to be found there. They preach of a man who came forward, proclaimed himself God, promised the forgiveness of sins, which precedes an eternal glory to all who believe, and then backed it up by submitting to the cross, taking the full wrath of the Father as he tasted death on our behalf. It wasn’t over at that point, though. The good news spread around the known world when the word got out that he rose again on the third day, defeating both sin and death for us once and for all! Is this how we should approach our duty to forward the Good News, or should we first try to find our purpose? Hmm… W.W.J.D.?

Mark 16:14-16
Later He appeared to the eleven as they sat at the table; and He rebuked their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they did not believe those who had seen Him after He had risen. And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned.

And what are we to believe so we can avoid condemnation? That we can be more motivated people? The mistaken notion that our God takes chances with His life, and so should we? I think this passage makes it clear. The eleven were rebuked for their disbelief and hardness of heart toward the very fact that all of Jesus’ claims to deity were proven through His defeat over death. Even though He preached about how blessed one is who is poor in spirit and how important it is to maintain your purity, the spear point of the church is something that defies logic and public perception.

The Good News is more radical than a sense of peace, a life-changing event, a membership in a community, a happier life or anything else that is usually used to attract people into a church. Any of those things can be realized, to one degree or another, in other ways. Just look at the resources available today. We have our good Dr. Phil, yoga, deep breathing exercises and the comedy channel, to name a few. Is it any wonder that most common response we are given when the subject of God comes up is, “I’m glad this works for you, but it’s not for me?” If we preach only the “positive side effects” of Christianity, how can we expect to be taken seriously?

The resurrection of Jesus confirmed the validity of all that He said. This is the good news of the gospel. This is why we worship our risen Lord. This is why we invite friends to church. This is the foundation for the church. Any “life improvements” that others look for when they come to church have to be secondary to that foundation if they are to last.

Matthew 13:20-21
But he who received the seed on stony places, this is he who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; yet he has no root in himself, but endures only for a while. For when tribulation or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he stumbles.

Let us remain evangelical in our pursuits and radical in our message. Let us not confuse the Good News with a good idea.

Soli Deo Gloria!