Gospel Lenses

         What is the Gospel?  What does the word Gospel mean?  Who is the Gospel for?  What does the Gospel do?  These are basic questions of Christian faith that we usually entertain and answer in VBS or maybe even at youth camp.  Once we "get" the Gospel, we move on to deeper discussions about theology and doctrine of the church.  In doing so, the Gospel becomes the story of the life of Christ and his message of salvation to sinners.  It's almost as if in the church, Christians graduate from the Gospel...to go deeper in faith means to move beyond the simple message of the Gospel right?
          That's the question we've been asking on Wednesday nights with our students as we walk through the book of Jonah.  I have challenged them to read Jonah through Gospel lenses.  As we read Jonah, it's like we are reading the story of the Gospel in the New Testament.  Read it and notice all of the similarities.  No matter how hard he tried, Jonah couldn't escape the reality of the Gospel--grace and mercy to all men.
          The word Gospel literally means good news.  Webster defines the word gospel as the teachings of Jesus and the apostles; the Christian revelation.  It can also be defined as the story of Christ's life and teachings, especially as contained in the first four books of the New Testament, namely Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.  The Gospel--what does it mean to you?  I think in our faith, the Gospel often gets lost.  The more you go to church, the more likely you seem to be to move past the Gospel into church politics, church arguments, church votes...somewhere in the midst of that we become numb to the Gospel, our faith becomes about our preferences, the church is supposed to serve us, and the Gospel is just for lost sinners.
          Without the reality of the Gospel, that's exactly what we'd be--lost sinners.  Even though we may not be eternally lost, we often get lost like Jonah when we remove our Gospel lenses.  Jonah was a great prophet, but he also sinned, got lost, and forgot that God's grace was for all people.  So, I invite you to put on your Gospel lenses.  You can't graduate from the Gospel!  To do so would be detrimental.  Yes, the Gospel is for lost sinners who live life outside the kingdom of God.  And yes, the Gospel is for Christians who get lost in sin and think they can move beyond the Gospel.  You cannot move beyond the Gospel, but you can forever move deeper and deeper into the Gospel.  
          I think if we view life through Gospel lenses, we as the church will be much more effective.  These lenses are like a good pair of prescription safety glasses.  They allow us to look into the world and see clearly.  At the same time, they protect us from the debris and dangers of getting caught up in the world.  Finally, they allow us to work in the world.  No one sits around watching TV with a pair of safety glasses.  In the same way, the Gospel saves us from works, but it doesn't save us not to work.  Put on your Gospel lenses and get to work.  The Gospel is for all people, both the lost and the found.  
          Ask your kids what the Gospel means to them.  Sit down as a family and write a family mission statement.  Answer this question--How would we live as a family if we were all wearing our Gospel lenses working together in this world for Christ?  If you feel like somewhere along the way you graduated from the Gospel, it's time to go back to school.  The Gospel should change us, grow us, and impact us each and every day.  It is our source of life and gives us breath.  We cannot live apart from it.  If you've taken off your Gospel lenses put them back on!  If you've been hit by some debris, I know a great physician who can probably get you up and running again.  I saw him save a man from drowning once...