The Gospel Leaks (Explicit)

[I'm going to take a break from blogging to give "writing a book" another go. I'll keep you updated. So this is temporarily a final post. Enjoy.]

There’s a business principle out there that says, “Vision leaks.” Basically, people need to be continually reminded of an organization’s vision to keep them invested, involved, and moving. Once the vision begins to dissipate confusion sets in and personal preferences or values can begin to override and even corrupt the vision. Employees and members need to be continually reminded.

In a similar and more important, manner the Gospel of Jesus Christ leaks. The truth of the Gospel doesn’t change but we’re clueless and forgetful people. This goes for all everyone everywhere. We must be constantly reminded of the Gospel or we will forget the Gospel — God’s love, truth, forgiveness, and freedom revealed and offered by grace to everyone through faith in Jesus Christ. This is crucial for non Christians who don’t know and haven’t accepted the Gospel.

How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? [Romans 10:14]

And it’s vital for Christians, who even though they have accepted it and given their lives to it forget about it continually. This is one of the main reasons I try to read the Bible routinely. I read regularly to remember what I forget daily. I read to be reminded of the Gospel. For I have to fight my sin nature hour by hour and the realities, disappointments, and tragedies of life cause me to forget the love, truth, forgiveness, and freedom of God over and over. And my life demonstrates my forgetfulness. This is also why attending a Gospel-centered chuch is necessary as well. We need to join with others in community weekly to be reminded of what we forget collectively. Our lives expose something about understanding of and dependency on the Gospel.

What is your life telling us about the Gospel?

What are our churches telling our cities about the Gospel?

We may have a memory problem.

The more I watch the classic sitcom Seinfeld I realize that without the grace of God I am George Costanza. Apart from the Gospel I am just like the shallow, insecure, and disingenuous character from Seinfeld. Wikipedia describes him like this, “George exhibits a number of negative character traits, among them stinginess, selfishness, dishonesty, insecurity, and neurosis.” These characteristic occur regularly but in one episode entitled, “The Voice,” George’s character shines as he enjoys the perks of faking a disability.

His plotting is eventually exposed and he loses all privileges. But to George it’s always worth the shaddy scheming.

The Gospel is all about exposing this and repairing it.

During the 2009 MTV VMA’s Taylor Swift received the award for best female music video. During her acceptance speech Kanye West famously crashes the stage and Taylor’s moment spewing his opinion all over the crowd and the media headlines. A year later, just before the 2010 VMA’s in an attempt to “make up” Kanye used more than 140 characters to tweet an apology to Taylor. And then he opened the awards show with a musical confession of sorts entitled Runaway (beware of explicit content and gaudy jewelry).

Kanye is giving a toast to himself, the George Costanzas of the world, and me. Frankly he’s giving a toast to everyone — the self-righteous and the unrighteous.

Let’s have a toast for the d*******,
Let’s have a toast for the a******,
Let’s have a toast for the scumbags,
Every one of them that I know
Let’s have a toast to the j******
That’ll never take work off
Baby, I got a plan
Run away fast as you can

The song celebrates and warns everyone for being how and who we are.

In one degree the Bible, in Titus 3 shares the sentiment,  At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another. And Ephesians 2 reveals, As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath. What I hide, what George epitomizes, and what Kanye cheers the Bible uses to describe all of us. And apart from the Gospel we are and will always be these things.

And these things cause us to doubt, deny, and forget God’s love and redemption.

Our sin has turned us away from God, against each other, and toward ourselves for protection and salvation. George uses his friends. I’m better than my friends. And Kanye alerts his friends to run away.

Has God run away too?

The Gospel answers, But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. [Ephesians 2:4-5]

The Gospel tells us that God created us out of love. It confronts us in love with the truth about our sin and separation from God. And then through love offers us forgiveness of these sins and freedom from them. So through faith in Jesus so we can say, “No,” to sin, “Yes,” to God, and follow Jesus forever.

But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life. [Titus 3:4-7]

God didn’t run away from us because of our sin, but ran to us by coming to earth and dying on a cross to reveal that our sin hasn’t scared Him off and that we’re worth saving.

Which is worthy of giving our lives to.

Which makes it worth remembering.

And we must remember regularly to replenish what leaks.

So read it.
Share it.
Memorize it.
Live it.
Tag it.
Teach it.
Ponder it.
Record it.
Paint it.
Breathe it.
Tattoo it.
Sing it.
Preach it.
Blog it.

Because many, like you and me, don’t know the message and power of the Gospel.

Or just constantly forget it.

For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day. [1 Corinthians 15:3-4]

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