As long as I can discover no connection between the Gospel and the problems of my life, then it has nothing to say to me and I am not interested. And that is precisely why the Gospel must be preached afresh and told anew in every generation, since every generation has its own unique questions. This is why the Gospel must constantly be forwarded to a new address, because the recipient is repeatedly changing his place of residence... In short, if the basic questions of life have shifted, then I must redirect the message of the Gospel. Otherwise I am answering questions that have never been asked. And, upon hearing such answers, my opposite number will just shake his head and say 'that's no concern of mine. It has nothing to do with me.
Thielecke, How Modern Should Theology Be?
Saturday, December 20, 2008
Redirecting the Message of the Gospel
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2 comments:
1. Are different generations really that unique? Can the "basic questions of life" ever really shift? "There is nothing new under the sun..."
2. If someone cannot discover any connections between the Gospel and the problems of his life, he should probably reconsider what he thinks about his life's problems, not the Gospel...
I hope that what Mr. Thielecke proposes here is not a different Gospel but a different means of evangelism, one that adapts itself to the changing times - becoming all things to all men, so to speak. (Note that the evangelism is what would change, not the Gospel.)
That is all well and good, but it is, if anything, a necessary evil. It sounds remarkably similar to a justification for recreating the Gospel in our own image - adapting the message to us, rather than ourselves to the message. With the recent advent of feminist theology, liberation theology, black theology, gay theology, ecotheology, etc. (all of which inevitably parallel secular social movements in broader society), I sometimes wonder which has happened...
The message of the Gospel. I say "messages" of the Gospel because there are two messages in the Gospel. The one that most people think of is our salvation through the acceptance of Christ. But it is the second one that is to direct our lives now. Lets say, we accept our salvation through Christ as a young adult. What is the purpose of the rest of our life? What was Paul talking about when he speaks of pressing on? I believe our job here and what the second message of the Gospel is; is to perfect our faith in God as our Father. So while the problems change from generation to generation, the relationship of Father/Child has not changed. When we have perfect faith, then we no longer have fear in the face of our problems because we know that since God loves us and since we love God through our obedience, then whatever problems we have will be worked out for what is best for us. We think we know what is best for ourselves; so did Adam and Eve. We are not to rely on our own understanding but instead rely on Gods. The problems may have changed, but the message is still relevant - it's faith.
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