Greater Gospel

God willing, the purpose of this post is to tie together a few themes that have stood out to me in the Gospel of John so far. 

We’ve mentioned (and will continue to mention) John’s purpose for writing this Gospel. He tells us in 20:30–31, 

Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

He wants the readers of this Gospel to believe in Jesus, and thus have “life in [Jesus’s] name” — which is another way to say “eternal life” (see John 3:16) or “abundant” life (see John 10:10). And this is the positive way of saying that he doesn’t want us to be condemned (see John 3:18, 36).

John clarifies what is most important, both when it comes to life and mission. 

For life, most ultimately, people most need to be saved. 

For mission, most ultimately, Christians must tell people what they most need.

Do you see? This doesn’t dismiss the hundred other important things on our plate. I’m thinking about all the implications of the gospel, such as the kinds of hearts Jesus gives us from which we work to meet all the felt needs around us. There are many. The darkness is real. 

Recently I met with a Roman Catholic neighbor, a good guy. He told me that he wasn’t really into reading about theology. The whole “study thing” used to be his cup of tea, but not anymore. Now, he’s all about action, about getting out and making a difference, he said. And all that is good, hear me. But what kind of difference does he mean? It’s not rescuing people from hell.

This is where I want to sound the warning: let’s not get caught up in making a difference that we don’t make an eternal difference. There’s a “vibe shift” these days, they’re saying. With the new presidency, with conservative advancements among the higher-ups, things are “really turning around.” But are people being saved? Do people know what they most need according to God?

Yes, there have been reports, and we want more. More people saved. Conversions, baptisms, testimonies — this is what we most want. And this is what it means to be a lifeboat, not a home remodel service, not a day spa. 

So we should be like John the Baptist, clearing the way for people to get to Jesus (and remembering it’s Jesus people must get to, not us). This raises the question, for us corporately and individually, asked on January 19: 

Does our life together, and your life, forge a path for people to get to Jesus or does it put obstacles in the way?

This is a choice put before us as we step into our next decade together, as I explained on March 2. Are we going to enter the storm, lean over the edge, and pull drowning people out of the water, or not? 

Cruise ship or life boat? Who do you want to be? And if it’s not a lifeboat, then what are we telling ourselves to make us think that’s okay?

 My guess at that last question is that it would have something to do with “community” — maybe the most idealized sub-biblical expectation in Evangelical churches like ours. (And a good test whether I’m onto something here is how bothered you feel about that last sentence.)

If Jesus continues his saving work through us, by his Word and Spirit, and if we’re going to experience that “mission complete” one day, what are we doing today that is a means to that? 

There’s a famous story about William Carey, the 18th century Baptist missionary. It was 1785, at a meeting of local pastors, and Carey proposed that they discuss the Great Commission and their churches’ obligation to advance the gospel. An older, more respected pastor shut down Carey and quipped “When God wants to convert the heathen, he will do it without your aid or mine.” 

The glaring hole in the man’s statement was an understanding of God’s use of means. Of course God doesn’t need our help, but he has chosen to work through us. Sometimes I wonder if we’ve subtly adopted the older pastor’s attitude about our own cities. We think that God will just convert people around here whenever he wants, without us. 

While it’s misguided to look at an unbeliever and think, “I’m the one thing standing between that person and hell,” it is entirely right to look at them and think, “God could use me as a means to rescue that person from hell.” As I said on March 9, 

Although we may not see the full mission complete in our lifetime, the things we do today on mission have an eternal impact. … it’s not all our responsibility to reach the whole 3,700,000 people of our metro, but we are responsible for a part.

If anything, the Gospel of John helps us keep our eye on the ball. There is a massive need, but we have an even greater gospel.