Shawn Casselberry's Blog
What is Gospel? / 06.01.09, 02:45 PM
I was with a group of friends and someone asked a very provocative question. What is gospel? They weren’t talking about music. They were asking how do we know that what we are hearing is gospel? With so many competing theologies and interpretations, how do we know when we are actually hearing the gospel versus someone’s good ideas or opinions. It’s a good question. I mean, what I grew up hearing in the pulpit is very different from what I understand the gospel to be today. So, how do we know its gospel when we hear it?
One person said they feel something inside that confirms that what they hear is gospel. This is certainly true for me too, but there has to be something beyond this. I know people of many faiths and religions who believe what they believe because they felt something when they heard a prophet or religious leader speak. It has to be more than subjective feeling right? One person said they know it’s gospel if they can look a suffering person in the face and still say it. For them, the gospel has to make sense to someone suffering. I respect that, but I think there’s more to it.
I have been chewing on the question for awhile now and still haven’t come up with a definitive answer. I guess for me, it’s gospel when it compels me to love in the spirit of Christ, to show grace in the spirit of Christ, to seek truth in the spirit of Christ, to do justice in the spirit of Christ, and to make peace in the spirit of Christ. The gospel in its essence is good news to the poor and broken, lonely and afraid. Or better yet, the gospel is what makes us good news to the poor and broken, lonely and afraid. I think the gospel is what provokes us to love in the spirit of Jesus.
I don’t know if we can come up with any answers we will all agree upon, but I think it’s a good question. So how do you know gospel when you hear it?
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Good question. When I hear the Gospel it makes me want to do something, I’m compelled to act on it. Kinda like Jeremiah when he said, “ his word is in my heart like a fire, a fire shut up in my bones.”
By Brother Bell / Jun 2, 01:40 PM / #