Easter

Easter is our biggest day as Christians. It's sort of like a family reunion. I go to church and see everyone I haven't seen in a year or so. I see some of them at our Christmas reunion, but Easter is the big one.

I just wanted to write two things regarding Easter:

1) Never assume the Gospel. You've always heard that if you assume you make an "ass" out of "u" and "me." That's a tired joke, but it's totally true. I've been thinking about this for about two years, and I believe that this is the number one problem in Evangelicalism. No body knows the gospel. I mean, I don't even think most Christians can roughly tell you what it is or explain it to you. We assume the gospel, and move on to things like evolution vs. creationism, predestination, and gay marriage. If you get the gospel wrong, you get it all wrong. The coming of God in flesh and the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ is the absolute centerpiece of the Christian faith. Paul puts it this way in 1 Corinthians 15:

¹Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, ²and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you— unless you believed in vain. ³For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures...

I'm so disturbed with the amount of Christian people I meet who cannot tell me what the gospel is and how it affects the world. When you get to a place where you just "know that you know" what the gospel is, I'm afraid you're in tough waters. Jump out of that swamp by not just reading God's word, but studying it, because his Bible is full of the good news.

2) With that problem, it's so crucial that the gospel is clear to people. I think a common emerging practice in Evangelicalism is to try and talk about the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus with new language and complex metaphors. The early church never did this. They preached from Scripture and told people Jesus raised from the dead and prayed their tales off. Christians (especially our pastors) should pay close attention to the rhetoric they use. I think another new practice is to tell people to not worry about their words they use and let the actions do the talking. I think that's true, we must be people of action, believe me my ministry is rooted in active faith. But the gospel is news, good news, and as Dr. Martin Lloyd-Jones said, it must be communicated like news. It is not instruction, or song, it is news. You instruct somebody how to tie a tie, because it involves something you must do. The gospel is already done for you, it is a historical event, and all you have to do is report the news: Christ has come, now believe. It is a headline, breaking news, an announcement for humanity, not a new way to live or an adjustment to your habits.

Take time this weekend to be reminded that the gospel is real and has already occurred, but in the same way, still has the power through the Holy Spirit to change you and every person you know. This is where joy lies. Christianity is not a club of people who are morally superior, but rather a group of people who admit their flaw and surrender to a King who is in the business of total redemption.