The Gospel is to be Proclaimed by being Performed

In addition to Scot’s analogy of musical performance (pg 3), Paul’s affirmation of the little church community in northern Greece (in a town called Thessalonica) makes the point explicitly. As you read Paul’s description of their community life (from 1 Thessalonians 1, The Message translation), pay attention to their embodiment of grace by how they demonstrably lived out their faith.

Every time we think of you, we thank God for you. Day and night you're in our prayers as we call to mind your work of faith, your labor of love, and your patience of hope in following our Master, Jesus Christ, before God our Father. It is clear to us, friends, that God not only loves you very much but also has put his hand on you for something special. When the Message we preached came to you, it wasn't just words. Something happened in you. The Holy Spirit put steel in your convictions.

You paid careful attention to the way we lived among you, and determined to live that way yourselves. In imitating us, you imitated the Master. Although great trouble accompanied the Word, you were able to take great joy from the Holy Spirit!—taking the trouble with the joy, the joy with the trouble.

Do you know that all over the provinces of both Macedonia and Achaia believers look up to you? The word has gotten around. Your lives are echoing the Master's Word, not only in the provinces but all over the place. The news of your faith in God is out. We don't even have to say anything anymore—you're the message! People come up and tell us how you received us with open arms, how you deserted the dead idols of your old life so you could embrace and serve God, the true God.

One of our Embracers dropped me an e-mail last night after the meeting: “Tonight was a blessing—truly people performing the music!  The lesson is so very much what people today want and need from a 'church'--to HEAR the music.  It was a good night, with good, good people. Looking forward to next Thursday.”

The Gospel doesn’t Promise to Solve all of our Problems

Though much is provided for us in Christ (e.g., peace, joy, community, forgiveness, hope), we continue to suffer the outfall of human rebellion in the world. Christians are not exempt from the tragedies that befall the human race in this era between our expulsion from the Garden of Eden and the Lord’s return to make all things right. In fact, in some ways, we the Lord’s people might have an extra layer of trouble, as we are called to endure the opposition and ill consequences of being identified with a rejected King.

Supplemental Quotes

Below are two quotes we used to supplement Scot’s first chapter, “Performing the Gospel.” 

Kevin Vanhoozer

Vanhoozer, professor at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, was recently interviewed by Christianity Today about his thoughts on living out our faith in today’s culture.

Question: "How does one evangelize cultures that have already received the gospel [in part] only to revise or reject it?"

Reply: How do you evangelize a culture that already knows something of the gospel, has accepted it [at a surface level], and then has moved on to a different story?

Simply giving people information isn't enough. That used to be a big part of evangelism. We would hand out tracts and Bibles, we would give people the information. Now what people need is to know not simply what the story is, but how does one live the story [or, in Scot’s terms, “how do we perform the gospel”]. They need to know that it can be lived out; they need to see what it means in the 21st century.

In order to answer the question of meaning, we have to show people—not just tell them—about the story of Jesus. We need to be forming Christian communities that form compelling corporate ways, compelling corporate witnesses to the nature and meaning of the gospel. And that's a huge task for the church. If the church is doing its business right, I think it will be a [living] parable of the kingdom that will be just as shocking and subversive to our day as Jesus' parables were to his.

John Ortberg

In Ortberg's book, Everybody’s Normal Till You Get to Know Them (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2003), he opens with this clever clothing analogy. The book is an easy read, with many good insights on living our faith in community. For more info at amazon, click here.

In certain stores you will find a section of merchandise available at greatly reduced prices. The tip-off is a particular tag you will see on all the items in that area. Each tag carries the same words: as is.

This is a euphemistic way of saying, “These are damaged goods.” Sometimes they’re called slightly irregular. The store is issuing you fair warning: “This is the department of Something’s-Gone-Wrong. You’re going to find a flaw here: a stain that won’t come out; a zipper that won’t zip; a button that won’t butt—there will be a problem. These items are not normal.

“We're not going to tell you where the flaw is. You'll have to look for it. But we know it’s there. So when you find it—and you will find it—don’t come whining and sniveling to us. Because there is a fundamental rule when dealing with merchandise in this comer of the store: No returns. No refunds. No exchanges. If you were looking for perfection, you walked down the wrong aisle. You have received fair warning. If you want this item, there is only one way to obtain it. You must take it as is.”

When you deal with human beings, you have come to the “as-is” corner of the universe. Think for a moment about someone in your life. Maybe the person you know best, love most. That person is slightly irregular.

That person comes with a little tag: There’s a flaw here. A streak of deception, a cruel tongue, a passive spirit, an out-of-control temper. I’m not going to tell you where it is, but it’s there. So when you find it—and you will find it—don’t be surprised. If you want to enter a relationship with this model, there is only one way. “As is.”

If you were looking for perfection, you’ve walked down the wrong aisle… When we enter relationships with the illusion that people are normal, we resist the truth that they are not. We enter an endless attempt to fix them, control them, or pretend that they are what they’re not. One of the great marks of maturity is to accept the fact that everybody comes “as is”…[ourselves included!]