{"id":1062,"date":"2010-12-11T11:10:19","date_gmt":"2010-12-11T11:10:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/2010\/12\/why_most_dont_appreciate_the_gospel.shtml"},"modified":"2021-05-29T02:44:39","modified_gmt":"2021-05-29T02:44:39","slug":"why_most_dont_appreciate_the_gospel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/2010\/12\/why_most_dont_appreciate_the_gospel.shtml","title":{"rendered":"Why Most Don’t Appreciate the Gospel"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ever had a discussion of religion or Jesus with folks and find that you just can’t break through their misconceptions? They are opposed to Christianity and Jesus, but posses an inaccurate picture of who He is, why He came, what He was about and what we should do about it. In large part, the blame can be laid at the feet of many ‘christians’ who have made following Jesus nothing more than living out of a playbook, following the rules and being good. Moralism under the guise of Christianity has no more power than it does when named ‘Islam’, ‘Buddhism’ or a ’10 Steps to a Better You!’
\nFunny thing is, usually trying to explain to these folks a more accurate picture of Jesus and the Gospel usually falls on deaf ears, and I’ve often wondered how to break through to produce a more clear understanding,. If only people understood, they’d follow, why can’t they understand?
\nToday I came across this excellent description of the Gospel on the Middletown Springs Community Church website<\/a> (the Vermont church where Jared Wilson<\/a> is the pastor) which reminded me of the answer (my emphasis):<\/p>\n

All of us without exception are broken people because of sin<\/strong>, but God loved us so much that he sent Jesus to experience the broken world in the weakness of full humanity, to live an obedient life to redeem our disobedience, to die a sacrificial death to atone for our sins, and to rise from the dead to conquer the death our sin deserves.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The reason most fail to grasp the gospel is they refuse to see that they are broken. To the unbroken, no savior is needed. To the healthy, a doctor is not required. Rescue is not necessary of you are not in danger. Thing is, the reality of one’s broken nature is overwhelming if there is no way out, so humans have mastered the art of self deception. We convince ourselves that we are OK. to anyone who has eyes, we clearly are not.
\nBut until you see your brokenness, until you grasp your own utter failure and own that you cannot fix yourself, Jesus will not make sense. Surrender all? Submit your will to His? Repent? No thanks, I’m doing fine.
\nNo, you’re not, and seeing that is key to seeing Jesus for who He is and why you need Him. That’s why He said “He who has ears, let him hear.” It’s also why I take every opportunity to teach my daughters that they are broken people. Not to tear them down, not to convince them that they are worthless, on the contrary, to point them to the one who has declared their worth in unequivocal terms with His very life. Embracing and understanding their shortcomings is crucial to their embracing God. We, all of us, prove every day that we “without exception are broken people because of sin”, but we must be willing to be honest with ourselves to see it. The world wants to tell us that we are just fine, but Jesus knows that we aren’t and nothing in this world will make us so, but he has already provided for us a way out of our brokenness.
\nMost folks never get to admitting their brokenness, and until they do, Jesus is of no value to them and no amount of explaining Him will ever make sense.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ever had a discussion of religion or Jesus with folks and find that you just can’t break through their misconceptions? They are opposed to Christianity and Jesus, but posses anRead More Why Most Don’t Appreciate the Gospel<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nWhy Most Don't Appreciate the Gospel - salguod.net<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/2010\/12\/why_most_dont_appreciate_the_gospel.shtml\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Why Most Don't Appreciate the Gospel - salguod.net\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Ever had a discussion of religion or Jesus with folks and find that you just can’t break through their misconceptions? 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