THE GUTLESS GOSPEL: Part 1 - Introduction

Something’s always bothered me about Jesus and the Gospel. Well, not the REAL Jesus and not the REAL Gospel. It’s the Jesus and the Gospel you find in the modern church, in the media, in movies and paintings and little statues and songs. It’s the long haired hippy looking metrosexual Jesus wearing a perfectly pressed white robe cuddling a lamb in one arm, flashing a peace sign with his other hand while spouting comforting, politically correct platitudes with just the hint of an aristocratic British accent. It’s a gutless Gospel failing to confront and offering only comfort – an “I’m okay, you’re okay” self-help, self-aggrandizing, selfish Gospel more about me than HIM. It’s Dr. Phil and a comfy couch with a lot of positive affirmation psycho-babble instead of a tough as nails Savior getting nailed on a cross and bleeding out in brutal agony to atone for sins I committed. It’s a “Bobby McFerrin” Jesus skipping along singing “Don’t worry, be happy” instead of a fiery eyed iconoclast shouting, “You snakes! You brood of vipers!” at the religious leaders of his day.

In all of this we have lost a key element of the narrative –

Jesus. Had. GUTS.

He was a man. Not just any man, but the God-man. Fully God. Fully man. Crazy right? He left the pain free, tear free, glorious, magnificent perfection of heaven to step foot into the painful, tear stained, horrific, grimy, fallen world we call home. Why? “No pain, no gain.” He chose to suffer in my place, in your place, for my sin and your sin so that we might gain salvation, mercy, grace, eternal life and one day experience the glory of his home. You know what that takes? GUTS!

Think about it. When he took the journey from heaven to earth he knew his destination was the cross. He knew he would experience the most incredibly sadistic form of execution ever devised by man. It was so devastating and painful that the etymology of the word “excruciating” traces its origins back to the Latin word the Romans coined to describe its overwhelming intensity. He volunteered for it! He manned up and said, “I’ll take the cross. I’ll take the nails. I’ll suffer incredible agony willingly.” And get this, why did he do it? Well that’s the most manly, gutsy, macho reason of all. Because he loves ME. Because he loves YOU. It takes a REAL man to show REAL love.

We get it wrong all the time. We think “real men” don’t go around talking about love and forgiveness and other “sissy” stuff. It takes a real man to look somebody in the eye and say, “I love you.” It takes a real man to fix an unblinking stare on his most vile enemy and say, “I love you. I forgive you.” You know what that is? Guts. It’s a Savior and Messiah and King with guts preaching a Gospel full of guts to a bunch of gutless people blinded to the truth by their own self-righteousness. That’s why the Gutless Gospel offends me so much – it is the absolute antithesis of what Jesus taught and preached.

I want to take a journey with you through the pages of Scripture and look at some of the gutsiest things the Lord Jesus Christ ever did. I want to shred the pages of the Gutless Gospel and burn them until only ashes remain. I want to explore the true Gospel of the gutsy Jesus and find hope, inspiration and courage from its timeless narrative. Will you join me?

God Hears You

Come and listen, all who fear God,

            and I will tell you what he did for me.

For I cried out to him for help,

            praising him as I spoke.

If I had not confessed the sin in my heart,

            the Lord would not have listened.

But God did listen!

            He paid attention to my prayer.

Praise God, who did not ignore my prayer

            or withdraw his unfailing love from me.

                                                                                    (Psalm 66:16-20 NLT)

I have a love / hate relationship with church signs. I believe they offer a valuable way to communicate with the world but often are wasted with pithy statements that do nothing to glorify the name of Christ and more often result in shaking heads and groans than a chuckle or a serious thought about the church. I truly think most people ignore them. For some reason, I love reading them just to see how cringe-worthy they can be. This morning on the way to work I saw one that caught my attention for its brevity, simplicity and power:

GOD HEARS YOU

Honestly I was deeply moved by its profundity. It came as such a sharp reminder: God, the Creator of all things, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, hears little me – one voice in a multitude. It speaks of a relationship with God that transcends what we find in any other religion – an intimate, personal relationship, so much so that we call him Father. He is not a God removed from us, but a God who is with us. He is not a God who shuns us, but a God who desires to redeem us and walk with us.

Last year’s Christian blockbuster was “God’s Not Dead.” As Christians we heartily embrace that statement. However, maybe we should also embrace the concept of “God’s not deaf.” He hears us. He hears the good, the bad and the ugly of our lives. He hears the plea of the oppressed, depressed and totally stressed. If we are experiencing a problem with our connection with God then we can rest assured it is from our end. The Psalmist writes, “If I had not confessed the sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened.”

The only form of interference between us and God is sin – it creates something we might label “sin-terference.” Fortunately it is easy to fix as the beloved disciple John tells us, “But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness (1 John 1:9 NLT).” God is eager to forgive, and equally eager to listen. He abhors the sin and wickedness of mankind, but has a deep unfailing love for mankind at the same time.

The most perplexing thing can be when we don’t receive a response from God in the way we expect. I’d love for him to shoot me a text, but that’s not the way he has chosen to work. He speaks in so many ways that we often overlook, but most importantly and consistently through the power of his Word – the Bible. Ultimately, the question we need to ask is not so much, “Does God hear us?” but rather, “Do we hear God?”

I am praying to you because I know you will answer, O God. Bend down and listen as I pray.

(Psalm 17:6 NLT)

I prayed to the LORD, and he answered me. He freed me from all my fears.

(Psalm 34:4 NLT)

But in my distress I cried out to the LORD;

            yes, I prayed to my God for help;

He heard me from his sanctuary;

            my cry to him reached his ears.         

(Psalm 18:6 NLT)