The common message preached
In 2017, a friend invited me to preach at a church he pastored in Kasokoso, the biggest slum in Kampala. I was very sceptical of doing this at first (for selfish reasons that I am ashamed to reveal), but what was supposed to last three days turned into three years of ministry. The situation in Kasokoso is dire: poor sanitisation, poor services, etc. Like most places in Kasokoso, the church was constructed from iron sheets, and the entire place flooded when it rained. In fact, a large part of Kasokoso flooded when it rained.
I learned much about ministry, the gospel, the people, and life during this period. I didn’t realise how privileged and blessed I was until I went there. Many of us don’t know how fortunate we are. A lot of the things we take for granted are luxuries over there. Those people would laugh at us if they heard the prayers many of us pray. Their wish is to have the problems some of us are crying about.
Several incidents occurred while I was ministering there that shaped me and my understanding of the gospel and showed me the magnitude of the great commission (Matthew 28:17-20) that the Church faces. One of those incidents happened during a Q&A session after a Bible study. The church pianist, a young man who lived in the church and whose father was in jail because he refused to sell his land to a big shot – the big shot put the father in jail so that he could grab his land – asked me this question, “Why does God let His servants suffer?” His father was a pastor.
There were many things the young man was facing that shaped his understanding of who God was, how He sustains His creation, and how He provides for His children, but central to all those was the kind of gospel message that his pastors had taught him. He believed that when one gets saved, all their problem cease. He also believed pastors and other gospel ministers should enjoy an even greater blessing since they serve God. Suffering should not be their potion, as many people proclaim.
This kind of thinking is not limited to him or those in Kasokoso. It is prevalent in most churches, and many of us have the same beliefs. It results from the preaching we hear from our pulpits every Sunday. This thinking is also reflected in the gospel appeal that pastors (and even ourselves) make.
One variation of this gospel message goes like this: “Are you sick, poor, failed to get a job, lonely, failed to get married, always facing problems, failed to have a child, in a bad marriage, facing problems at work, etc.? Come to Jesus; He will heal you or fix all your problems.”
Another variation has to do with deliverance. All the peoples’ problems were a result of demonic activity, and they needed deliverance. If you were outside, you needed Jesus to deliver you from demonic oppression, turn your life around, and make everything better. If you were inside, the reason why the promise given to you while you were outside hasn’t manifested yet is because of some demonic activity in your life that you need deliverance from. To sum it up, Jesus Christ came to fix all your problems, and if you come to Him, He will fix all your problems. But if they still need to be fixed, you need deliverance.
The common understanding of the Gospel
Most professing Christians know rightly that the word gospel means good news. But if you ask them what the gospel (good news) is, most won’t be able to tell you. A quick survey of professing Christians brought up interesting answers.
- The majority – The gospel is God’s word, the Bible. These included those who said it was the first four books of the New Testament and those who said it was a collection of writings in the Bible relating to the life of Jesus here on earth.
- Second group – It’s God’s instructions or guidebook on how to please him.
- Third group – God’s message that brings light into our spirits, especially when discouraged or downcast.
- The fourth group – good news is that Jesus came to save us. But they differed on what he came to save us from. Most in this category said sin.
In practice, most professing Christians believe the gospel is about Jesus saving us from sin but mostly suffering. This belief is very evident in our testimonies. They are all filled with how God has saved us from a situation that has caused or would have led to suffering, promptly followed by, “Come to God, and He will do the same for you.”
One thing we all have in common, and in plenty, is problems. It does not matter how rich or successful you are; problems don’t discriminate. A gospel message that promises to fix all your problems can be very appealing, especially to those who are desperate or are suffering. As a result, we have turned Jesus into a problem-fixer. Whatever problem you have, Jesus is the answer. We even have a song to go along with it.
Is there a problem with that message?
There is if that’s not what the gospel is. Most people think the gospel is about God doing away with our suffering, and their proof of this is the miracles of Jesus. While Jesus performed many miracles, they are not the gospel. The good news is not that Jesus has come to heal you from sickness, give you a Job, or sort out all your problems. To make the gospel about that is to diminish it. We have taken the blessings and promises of the gospel, most to be realised on the other side of eternity and made them the gospel.
If most professing Christians don’t know what the gospel is or are misrepresenting it, what sort of gospel message is being told to non-believers to get them to believe the message of Christ? And those who have believed, what have they believed in?
This type of message gives people a false hope that ultimately leads to them making a shipwreck of their faith. It is no wonder that most churches have a high turnover rate, and many seek ‘men with power.’ We have given them a false gospel they do not find in our churches. Hence, they continue to pursue this type of gospel wherever these promises are made. Eventually, some of them give up, accuse God of being unfaithful, and become agnostics or atheists.
That young man broke down and cried immediately after asking the question and then accused God of being unfaithful. I was so broken, not only because of what was happening to him and his father but mostly because he had listened to and believed a lie perpetrated as the gospel. He eventually left the church and joined another, seeking the kind of gospel that would deliver on those promises he had been told. This cycle will be repeated for him and many until they understand what the gospel actually is.
So, what is the Gospel?
Then the Lord passed by in front of him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth; who keeps lovingkindness for thousands, who forgives iniquity, transgression and sin; yet He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished, visiting the iniquity of fathers on the children and on the grandchildren to the third and fourth generations.” Exodus 34:6-7
Many have read these verses in Exodus 34 but have never fully grasped their implications. Sadly, many others have wrongly made them about generational curses. Yet, they are some of the most beautiful illustrations of the gospel. How can God forgive iniquity, transgression, and sin while not leaving the guilty unpunished? Aren’t those committing iniquity, transgression, and sin the ones who are guilty, whom God will not leave unpunished? How will God be merciful to them without punishing them, yet He promises to punish the guilty?
The Fall
If you’re wondering who the guilty are, Romans 3:10-12 should help. “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.” Therefore, all of us are guilty. We are among those whom God promises to punish for their sins.
This guilt results from Adam’s sin in the garden of Eden (Genesis 3), which condemned us and all creation to this fate (Romans 8:19-20). It’s not just that Adam sinned, but we all sinned in Him (Romans 5:12). We are all guilty of the original sin and those we have added through our choices that are contrary to God’s law. This corruption is visible, even in young children/toddlers, who do not know the difference between right and wrong yet do sinful things. They are jealous, manipulative, disobedient; they lie, steal, etc., yet those toddlers do not understand that what they are doing is sinful.
Therefore, since creation to this day, all of us are guilty before God and fully deserving of His wrath. There is a day that is coming when God will judge all who are guilty, as Paul says in Romans 2:5, But because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed. This day is against sinners, those who are guilty.
Redemption
‘For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit,’ 1 Peter 3:18
There is hope for the guilty. Exodus 34:6 speaks of a gracious and merciful who forgives sin, iniquity and transgression. But the debt owed to God must be paid for sin to be forgiven. You and I cannot pay that debt because we have nothing to offer Him since everything belongs to Him. Besides, our debt increases every day since we sin daily.
Also, debt cancellation was not all that was required. To enter God’s presence, one must be as righteous as He is. You and I have no hope in that regard because we have sinned previously and continue to sin. Therefore, all our righteousness is like filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6).
But there is one who is worthy, who lived a sinless life, died for our sins, rose again, and is now seated at the Father’s right hand. There is one who was the perfect sacrifice, whose blood is sufficient for all sins (1 John 2:2). That person is Jesus Christ, the Son of God, and through His sacrifice on the cross, God reconciled us to Himself (2 Corinthians 5:18).
He is the One who promised that in His Father’s house there are many rooms, and He will return to take His disciples so that they may be with Him (John14:2-3). And He is the one who will come again to judge the living and the dead on that great and dreadful day when sinners will be destroyed (cast in the lake of fire to burn eternally). Not only that, He also triumphed over all rulers and authorities, including all demonic power (Colossians 2:15) such that those who have believed in Him need not worry about what Satan might be doing, when, where, and how, but rather place their trust in Him who has defeated Him.
But doesn’t that mean no suffering?
No, it does not, because Jesus also tells us, “…In this world, you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). Jesus doesn’t promise to take away suffering or tribulation from His disciples. He calls them to trust in Him and His power over the world.
He also tells us through His apostles that we shall suffer as a result of our faith (1 Peter 3:13-14, 17) and that all who desire to live a godly life will face persecution (2 Timothy 3:12). Suffering is a part of a Christian’s life because it not only joins us to the suffering of Jesus on the cross, it also joins us to His glory that shall be revealed at His coming (Romans 8:17)
The Good News, the Gospel
‘but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God.’ Romans 5:8-9
The good news is that in Christ, sinners are saved from the wrath of God. God has made a way for us to be reconciled back to Him. There is a judgement of sin coming and it is only those who have believed in Jesus that will not face eternal punishment. Their sin is paid for by the atoning sacrifice of Jesus and their joy will be eternal life with the Father and the Son.
But those who do not believe will be found to be outside of that sacrifice. They will pay for every sin committed against a holy and just God. It is a terrible thing to fall into the hands of the living God (Hebrews 10:31). This is the message we should be preaching to people, not giving them false promises about a good life. As John Piper put it,
The good news is that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, died for our sins and rose again, eternally triumphant over his enemies, so that there is now no condemnation for those who believe but only everlasting joy.
That is the gospel.