An Incomplete Gospel Is No Gospel At All

It was a rainy Wednesday evening, and I was wrapping up things at work when I got a text from a good friend of mine. She mentioned she was in town and if I wanted to hang out. Before I could even respond, she texted me another message, saying that another friend of ours invited her to a Bible Study which was close by and asked if I wanted to tag along.

In most cases I would be eager to go, especially since I had been trying to make several efforts to minister to my friend and share the gospel to her, even before I left Manila. But this time was a little different. You see, the Bible Study we were invited to was led a by a young, hip, and trendy pastor named Judah Smith. Smith was known to associate himself with several celebrities who called themselves Christians. I had heard much about this pastor from Christian news outlets, and I have seen snippets of his sermons here and there, but have never listened to the guy fully preach. Word on the street was that he was visiting his satellite church in LA and was holding a service that evening, the very one we were invited to. So even if I was initially on the fence about it, after much prayer and counsel, I agreed to meet my friends at the Bible Study to see and hear for myself what kind of gospel this pastor preached.

WE NEVER GET TO ARRIVE

I wanted to make sure I came in with an open, yet expectant heart. The biggest temptation was to come into the community, already having made up my mind about what it was and what it stood for. (Which admittedly, I was struggling with) I think so many of us are prone to do that - for unbelievers, and most especially for those who are already believers. When we've been in the faith so long, it's so easy to be deceived that we're more accepted than those who know less, or who have only just begun. Like we've already somehow arrived at becoming Christ-like, and they're a long way off. This is wrong. It's harder to speak the truth in love when you're lacking in love. We're not any different from anyone, after all. We're still sinners and always will be for as long as we live in this broken world.

"If you obey for a thousand years, you're no more accepted than when you first believed; your acceptance is based on Christ's righteousness, not yours." - Paul David Tripp

Interestingly enough, this seemed to be the underlying theme of the message for the evening. Judah introduced his sermon focused on child-like humility, which was part of a series that studied the paradoxical sayings of Jesus. He mentioned that we were going to be spending some time on Matthew 18, however 37 minutes into the sermon and he still hadn't stopped speaking about his children, which he had meant to use to illustrate what being child-like was about.

FINDING THINGS TO AFFIRM

Eventually we reached the Text, read through it, and ended up on another illustration after another, sandwiched in between bits and pieces of the pastor's insights on how culture drives us to compete, compare and out-rank one another. His speech was abounding in witty comments and quotable quotes [which you might be able to put up on your social media profile. I actually took notes, if anyone needs a copy].

One of the things I appreciated that evening was how Smith attempted to use Scripture to illuminate Scripture further. We did a couple of cross-references with another story in Luke, and he tried to drive the point home by closing out with 2 Samuel - a story about David disregarding his reputation as King, and falling back to his shepherd boy roots to worship the Lord with all his heart. I wish he took time to unpack the texts a little bit more, but he began drawing his conclusions. He ended our time together by saying, "I wish we can become a humble community. A community where we're free to be who we really are... And love one another. We're not here to fill theatres, but we're here to help unstable people and build relationships." His words were met with a round of applause, loud cheers, and a couple of "Amens".

The band started to fill the stage while the pastor was prepping the congregation for the closing prayer. As the music filled the room, he started to get emotional and began speaking about how the church is meant for the broken people; that church was about having people to love you in your mess because that's what Jesus would do. I appreciated the emphasis on grace during these times. He asked if there was anyone who wanted to pray to accept Jesus in their heart, explaining that Jesus took on our sin and our struggles so we could have a relationship with Him. (This was the only time sin was ever mentioned during the whole evening.)

From where I was sitting, three hands in the room went up. And the pastor began to pray.

Shortly after, he spoke again, saying that we can also ask Jesus to help us become humble, so that we could live out the purposes He planned for us, and become the church He wants us to be. He again invited folks to raise their hands if they wanted Jesus' help to become all that they could be.

Almost all of the hands in the room went up.

A CHANGED LIFE APART FROM JESUS?

From what I gathered, being vessels of God's love and grace seemed to be what this church emphasized on. And they really do quite well in that department. One of the things I immediately noticed about the church was that it felt warm and welcoming. I never felt out of place. From the time I stepped into the hall, all the way until I left, there was always someone to greet me a "hi" or "hello"or wish me well. I was thanked for even just being there. The place felt inviting because the people were all accommodating, and I find that commendable. I happen to know that a lot of people who go to church don't often stay in one simply because they were never spoken to or welcomed. I don't know why I happen to know that, (maybe it's because I grew up in a Megachurch) but if there's anything churches can learn at all from the one I visited over the week, it's the example they've set in being friendly and inviting.

However, a further look into the way Scripture is regarded on their pulpit reveals where they fall short. And this, I believe, is more important. Repentance was never mentioned. The mention of sin was rare, and the biggest heartbreaker for me was that the Cross was never mentioned at all. This is important because as wonderful as it is to be a place where people are most free to be themselves, if we never show them the true condition of their hearts, well - it's like a train ride straight to Hell, you just made sure that they were comfortable getting there.

I realized that most of the people in the room wanted grace and mercy. They were desperate for it. They wanted the changed life, but they weren't told that it came with a Cost. One that took the life of Jesus, whom they spoke of that night. When I asked people what made them decide to come to that church, "because I'm sick of church" was a common answer. These are the people who were tired of being judged by other Christians for their life choices. Which totally explains why most of these folks were so attracted to the raw, and authentic feel that Judah Smith's church had to offer - they wanted to be free to be themselves without having to fake "being okay" or to deal with the struggle of getting it all together to obey all that God has commanded. And I understand how they feel and where they're coming from. Being a Christian is hard. Even on our best days, we still lie, and gossip and think ill of other people. For as long as we live in the flesh, we will desire the things of the flesh. (Galatians 5:17)

But being simply accepting of that without rebuke or counsel, and more importantly without pleading with God to change us (because it's impossible to do it without Him).. that's not church. That's a support group. It's like Sinners Anonymous. 

THINKING OUT LOUD

Makes me think if we know the same Jesus at all. Because I could be wrong. Perhaps they do know, I just happened to come on a night when the pastor didn't bring it up. But in retrospect, remembering all the elements of the service, and even speaking to a few people who I met that night, one thing was made clear to me: the Gospel was not preached that night. Because a gospel that grants transformation without the Sacrifice of our Saviour is incomplete. Authenticity without striving for holiness is not being gracious. That's licentiousness. And any attempt to change without the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit is not the gospel. That's behavior modification.

"If Jesus Christ isn't strong enough to motivate you to live Biblically, you don't know Him at all." - Paul Washer

Much to their credit though, everyone was nice. We engaged in some great conversations and fellowship over drinks and a late night dinner at a pub close to the venue. Everyone was great. But amidst the smiles and banter, my heart was bleeding that evening. Nice doesn't bring salvation. Maybe it gets you a few good friends and some compliments. But not a ticket to heaven. Anyone can be nice. Any church can be warm and welcoming. The message of humility delivered that night was okay, but I'm hoping and praying that somehow, some way, the new friends I made that night will be able to realize that true and lasting change does not come from our own efforts, or adjusting our attitudes. It only comes from a real grasp on the true Gospel of Christ and understanding that apart from Jesus, we're helpless.

If there's anything I can impart to anyone who might be reading this, I would tell you to be wary of the Christian leaders you look up to or associate yourself with. (Preachers, teachers, worship leaders/bands). These days, it's easy to come across someone who calls himself/herself a Christian. But we need to ask the hard questions. "Can I affirm this person in their ministry because they are aligned with what God commands? Or do I affirm them simply because I like what I'm hearing?" "Is what they preach/sing according to Scripture? Or did they teach according to their own interpretation of the Bible?" These kinds of questions might sound offensive to most ministries. But if we are to have any hope of keeping our churches the way God designed them to be, and growing in the Truth, we must be "innocent as doves but as shrewd as snakes" (Matthew 10:16)