Last week I argued that one key problem with the way we talk about the Gospel is that we often leave people with a self-centered Gospel. We focus on our needs and interests, forgetting that this is supposed to be a story about God from beginning to end. Yes it’s good news that we get to be a part of the story, but the center of the story should always be God.
One easy way to fix that would be to share the same basic Gospel, but to make sure that we orient it more clearly around God. We can talk about God’s amazing plan to manifest his glory in creation and in that context share the good news that God wants to make you a part of his larger story so that you and God can be together forever.
That would be better. Instead of a Gospel about me, we’d have a Gospel about me and God. That’s an improvement. But there’s still one little problem: ”me and God” is not good.
Think back to the beginning of this story. In the first chapter of Genesis, God looked at what he created and six times he said that it was good. At the end of the chapter, he surveyed all of creation and declared that it was not only good, it was very good. Yet when we come to Genesis 2, we run into a problem. God looks at Adam in the garden, Adam with all of the blessings that God had poured out on him, and he says that it was “not good” (Gen. 2:18).
Not good?
How is that possible? How could anything be “not good” at this point in the story? Nobody has done anything wrong yet. Indeed, the only one who has really done anything so far is God. How could anything God created not be good?
The problem, according to God, is that Adam is alone. Oh, well we wouldn’t want Adam to be alone. We can certainly understand how it could get lonely hanging out in that garden all day with no one to talk to. After all, it’s not like he was there with God or anything….
But, of course, Adam wasn’t alone. He was with God. And a relationship with God is pretty amazing. Yet, God still looks at it and says that it is “not good.” And God’s not satisfied until he has created another human, someone to come alongside Adam so they could bear God’s image in the world together.
God created a “person” and it was not good. God created a “people” and it was very good.
This has aways been a story about God and his people. He created a people in the beginning. After the fall, he continues to work with his people in Israel and the church. At the end of the story, beautifully depicted in Revelation, we see God dwelling with his people forever. God’s plan has never been about “me and God.” It’s always been about “us and God.”
But I almost never hear this when we talk about the Gospel. And, by making this a story entirely about “me and God,” I think we set people up for a serious misunderstanding. If the Gospel is about me and God, then the church exists primarily for the same reason. So I go to church if it helps me and God get along better. If church A isn’t helping my relationship with God, then I’d better head for church B. Or, if I find that my personal relationship with God seems to be doing fine without church, I’ll just stay home. The church is important, but it’s secondary, extraneous, optional.
No. It’s not. It never has been.
The church is not about helping “me and God” do better. The church is about God’s people, those adopted into his family, standing together to manifest his glory as his image bearers in the world. “Us and God” is very good.
Now we do need to be careful here. I’m not suggesting that we need to get rid of the idea of a personal relationship with God entirely. That would be tragic. The Gospel is good news for me as an individual. Having a personal relationship with God is amazing, and the church definitely has (or should have) a positive impact on that personal relationship. But we cut the Gospel short when we stop with the individual. If we don’t place “me and God” in the larger context of “us and God,” we’ll miss the fundamental significance of the church, viewing instead as a simply a collection of persons, each seeking to improve their individual relationships with God.
Yes, God wants me. But he wants more than just me. He wants us. And “us” is very good.
About Marc Cortez
Wonderful post, Marc! This is such a needed word for us. Perhaps the issue is that we are shaped more by our consumeristic culture than by Scripture–especially when it comes to looking for a Church home. We then end up being a mile wide and only an inch deep.
Thanks for a great post. As Cynthia said in her comment, we need this! We need to view church as community, a community of faith, a community of believers. Isaiah wrote in his prophecy “… and his name will be called Immanuel, which means ‘God with us.’” Notice that Isaiah wrote “with us” not “with me.” Throughout the Bible, we are given example after example of being in community when worshipping God, and when Jesus was present. So it stands to reason that if Jesus is the ultimate Immanuel, then we should not view the Gospel as for me, but for us.
Thanks! I’m glad you found the post helpful.
Your point that the gospel should be about “we” and not “me” is a good one. However, you err when you assume that the “we” should be church instead of humanity.
That was the case before the Fall, but not after. God’s plan in the end is to manifest his glory through his people forever, but “his people” will not include all humans. (I know that you have a different view on this, but that’s for a different post.)