What exactly is the Gospel?

[handy]

I was dinking around on the web the other night and came across this:

Church Marketing Sucks

For those of you who have dinosaurs like the system I have at our place in town, here are a few quotes from the site:

It’s a simple and powerful statement that church marketing is evangelism.
It reminds me of the first chapter of Meredith Gould’s The Word Made Fresh: Communicating Church and Faith Today, which argues that church communication is ministry.
What we do is not just some business skill for the church. The work you do is not mere work. It is a vital ministry of the church, seeking and saving the lost. We marketers and communicators, designers and editors, volunteers and assistants–we are evangelists.

More and more churches are turning to creative programming to attract people, trying to offer something outside the Sunday morning worship experience to interest visitors. The Washington Post covers a number of different options churches are offering, including golf ministries, river tubing, an aviation ministry, drama programs, dance programs–even a twentysomethings group called “Theology on Tap†that meets in bars.
It can get even more unique, like a youth group in Billings, Mont. that draws teens with dodgeball or a book backed by a UK bishop that encourages lingerie parties. The book, Open the Door, encourages Christians to use unconventional methods to connect with non-Christians (it also recommends chocolate parties, knitting groups and book clubs, but those lingerie parties get all the headlines).

Authenticity
But getting to the point, [Lutheran pastor Nadia] Bolz-Weber could care less about market research. She’s not exactly megachurch material:

†‘Come and die to yourself’ will never sell,†she said. †‘Jesus wants you to be rich’ sells. But comfort is not a gift of the Holy Spirit.â€
​

Bolz-Weber thinks authenticity is what matters, a theme we hear a lot of lately:

“I’ve never asked myself what do young adults want on church,†she said. “I’ve never tried to fill a market niche by producing a particular religious product.â€
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As much as we marketing types would like to formulate the perfect approach, sometimes it works better to just do it. Explore, experiment, try, fail, try again. You know: be authentic.
Authentic Beats Excellent
Bolz-Weber describes her 75-member congregation as “anti-excellence and pro-participation.†That’s a new direction—embracing what’s broken.

“We don’t do anything really well,†she said, “but we do it together.â€
​

If you have to choose, community beats perfection.

...also, on being authentic:

If you’ve been a part of the Church Marketing Sucks conversation for any amount of time, you know a basic tenet of good marketing philosophy comes down to churches being authentic.
It appears even the political elite are understanding what it means to be authentic. In Time’s “10 Questions For…†column, Perry Bacon Jr. asked California Senator Barbara Boxer “What does your party need to do to win more elections?â€

“I think we should be authentic, and I think we should allow our candidates to be who they are. We should be a big tent, and we’re pretty much tied together to be the party of hope, opportunity and fairness. But I think authenticity is the key; I think that’s what people want more than everything.â€
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Thanks Barbara for giving us a picture of what the church should be. A “big tent†where a church is who it is and “authenticity is the key†to hope.

There are other nuggets at the site, but I wanted to end with Boxer, because it really hits on what, in this housewife from Idaho's opinion is wrong with so many churches today and that is the preaching and teaching of a "new gospel" and that "new gospel" is: "Come to church, because Church is a "big tent" where everybody can be authentic!"

The old gospel is, "And He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. <sup class="versenum" id="en-NASB-24890"></sup>"He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved; but he who has disbelieved shall be condemned." Mark 16:15-16

The new "gospel": "Authenticity is the key to hope."

The old gospel: "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Matthew 28:19-20

The new "gospel": Let's do anything to attract people to come to church.

The old gospel: "And He summoned the crowd with His disciples, and said to them, "If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel's will save it." Mark 8:34-35

The new "gospel": "...be who you are"..."be authentic."

The old gospel: "Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect." Matthew 5:48

The new: "Community beats perfection."

Has my spidey sense tingling.

 

[Adullam]

The good news (gospel) must always be...the kingdom of God is at hand!

This could mean the gift of grace that enables us to partake of the life of Christ here and now which is preparing us for eternal glory with the Lord....as well as the very immanence of the kingdom coming into the world as a historic revolution in both time and space.

 

[WIP]

The gospel is the good news that Jesus Christ died for us and in so doing took the punishment meant for us in our behalf. He sacrificed his life so that we might live eternally with the Father despite our unworthiness. We didn't deserve this gift of life but He gave it to us anyway because He loves us so much. Now, is that good news or what?

 

[handy]

The gospel is the good news that Jesus Christ died for us and in so doing took the punishment meant for us in our behalf. He sacrificed his life so that we might live eternally with the Father despite our unworthiness. We didn't deserve this gift of life but He gave it to us anyway because He loves us so much. Now, is that good news or what?

The good news (gospel) must always be...the kingdom of God is at hand!

So, if this is the gospel....why is the overwhelming message of the church to the world, "Come to church, 'cause we're just as hip as you!"

 

[Adullam]

So, if this is the gospel....why is the overwhelming message of the church to the world, "Come to church, 'cause we're just as hip as you!"

Too often there is marketing and sloganeering drives as church has become as a business of sorts. The consumer mentality that abounds in our socirty has infiltrated the western churches. It has become just one more commodity for many unfortunately! 2

In many ways, denominations are become as fast food franchises each vying for a larger piece of the local market. Like having a Mc Donalds or Burger King on opposite street corners anouncing it's "specials" on billboards.

 

[Exorcist]

According to the Gospel, it's not something women should be allowed to discuss in public, they should be told what it means by their husbands in private.

 

[Riverwolf]

So, if this is the gospel....why is the overwhelming message of the church to the world, "Come to church, 'cause we're just as hip as you!"

I am unclear on your question? Are you wondering/concerned on the methods that churches may use to attract new members? Or the message new members receive once they are there?

 

[handy]

I am unclear on your question? Are you wondering/concerned on the methods that churches may use to attract new members? Or the message new members receive once they are there?

Does anyone remember the old joke that many pastors tell when preaching on the gospel..."being in church doesn't make you a Christian anymore than being in a garage makes you a Pontiac"?

It's not so much either the methods churches use to attract new members, nor the message they receive once they're there....it's more of a fact that there seems to have been a change in emphasis in the Church, changing from equipping it's members to go forth and share the gospel with unbelievers, to inviting folks, a lot of times folks who are already in a different church, but unchurched folks as well to "join the club" so to speak.

What should be driving church growth? In many places today, it's coffee shops, great music, programs to keep the kiddies happy, and slick productions.

So often today, the idea is, "get them into church so that they can hear the gospel" rather than, "share the gospel with them, so that they can become part of the Church."

 

[Jake]

I saw a quote from a pastor the other day and he said "I have found it's impossible to please both the young urbans and the older generation", and my first thought was, is this what it's about now - pleasing the people? We all like to be entertained but to what spiritual expense are we paying?

It seems many churches have let the world in and what does the Body of Christ and the world have in common?

 

[Drew]

The good news (gospel) must always be...the kingdom of God is at hand!

This could mean the gift of grace that enables us to partake of the life of Christ here and now which is preparing us for eternal glory with the Lord....as well as the very immanence of the kingdom coming into the world as a historic revolution in both time and space.

Wow. Someone who actually understands how Paul uses the term "gospel". Against the vast swathe of evangelicals, you correctly understand that the gospel is not primarily about "how to get saved", but rather about the "news" that the Kingdom of God has arrived "in space and time".

Yes, one of the results of the gospel is "salvation through faith". But Paul uses the term "gospel" to announce that "Jesus is Lord", that is, that the kingdom of God is here.