A Full Strength Gospel

17 For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel, and not with words of eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.

18 For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. ~1 Corinthians 1:17-18, ESV

If we are going to recover a full strength gospel we have to be willing to start talking about the cross as if it were life or death (because it is), and quit talking about everything else peripheral as if it were central. Others of us might just do better shutting up altogether and let the cross do the talking.

You may wonder what I mean by a full strength gospel? First of all, it's important that we understand that there is a diluted gospel that is emptied of its power and then there is the undiluted gospel which is mighty to save (which Paul clearly speaks of here). And secondly, when the cross is presented as the gospel's centerpiece it should be noted that it will become a stumbling block of unparalleled proportions for those who refuse it—last I checked the words of Jesus, there was a narrow gate and a wide one (see Matthew 7:13-14 if you have any questions, judging by much of the content of what passes as modern preaching today, you might just get the opposite impression if you aren't careful). The cross is like a needle delivering a cure to those who are terminal, not a bunny rabbit passing out goodies to all takers.

In other words, when you preach the cross, your messages are guaranteed to hurt people's feelings and maybe even rattle their overinflated sense of self-esteem.

So, why do we water it down and try so hard to make it more palatable? Why are we ever trying to smooth out its jagged edges? Why do we do everything on the planet to make everything but the cross paramount? Why do we strip references to the cross out of our conversations? Why do we talk as though the cross were an afterthought? The gospel is powerless when preached as a bubble bath. The cross isn't suppose to be cotton candy to those who are perishing, unless I have totally misunderstood Paul's text here.

Now, I will agree that we can add our own offense to the cross in a variety of ways that ought not be there (2 Cor. 6:3, 1 Cor. 8:9), but we are never to make that a crafty excuse for removing the offense. There will always be offense taken when we preach the cross as it was meant to be preached, it's worth noting that Paul doesn't add as a caveat, "sometimes there will be offense". It's not we who are to be offensive, the message handles that just fine.

I just have to borrow a comment at this juncture that hits the nail on the head from Bill Streger on Jared Wilson's recent post, Preach the Gospel Only When In Season?

From observation, I've noticed that the American church really likes to change "seasons" about every 4-6 weeks. So while it may be acceptable to have a "gospel/cross season", we can't let it last too long. After all, we have to make way for:

* God's plan for your finances season
* How God wants you to have lots of good sex season
* Getting ahead at work season
* Get behind the vision of our church season
* Give more money to our church season
* Why aren't you in a community group yet? season
* Parenting without losing your mind season
* We need more volunteers for the easter egg, drop ipods from the sky season
* Let's dominate the city by elevating our innovation season
and last, but certainly not least...
* Lessons of morality from popular summer blockbuster movies season

I mean, if we just preached about Jesus, the cross, and the Gospel all the time the direct mail postcards would get a little redundant.

Amen.

When we remove the offense of the cross from our preaching we just become a Christian alternative to Oprah and Dr. Phil—no one gets converted and no one's feelings get hurt. Nice. What's the sense? Maybe a paycheck? We certainly can't claim to be doing anything close to what we have been set apart to do. At least they don't claim to be gospel preachers (I know, we like the term communicators better).

I know it's not popular to preach the cross, but when did having more campuses than any other church in a city become the calling of a pastor? My conversations with friends and strangers about Jesus—namely his claim to be God, his crucifixion, his resurrection, (and dare I say it, their sin, which the cross exposes like a naked streaker)—haven’t always been happy pleasant exchanges. No, they are often difficult to spit out and hard for the hearer to swallow. But it's the cross they need most! What kind of person keeps the cure to cancer under wraps?

I won't use the term here.

If our only message is "Jesus loves you, Jesus loves you, Jesus loves you... and he has a wonderful life for your plan and your best marriage now"—that's not the gospel of the new testament. For all most people care, Santa Claus loves them too, and he bothers to deliver bundles of toys.

We need to see to it that the cross is never secondary in our preaching and refuse to apologize for the offense that follows; and we must be prepared to explain why the cross is absolutely necessary and why it is flawlessly sufficient.

To take the offense of the gospel out of our message isn’t merely diluting the gospel, it is to take out the gospel entirely. There is hope though, and the hope is that we recover a gospel that truly is gospel.