Stephen had a target on his back and it caught up to him. In Acts 8:1a we read, "Saul was there consenting to his murder." Like Caesar signaling a gladiator's life or death, Saul gave the stone-wielding hoard the nod. Stephen, a man guilty of preaching the Good News of Jesus, the Risen King, was then stoned. To death. Publically.
The result? As one might imagine, followers of Risen King Jesus scattered everywhere like a bag of marbles spilled onto a tile floor. It wasn't enough for Saul and his band of stoners to drive followers of "The Way" out of Jerusalem and the surrounding areas. No. Saul wouldn't stop until every last one of the Jesus-following vermin were murdered into compliance.
Saul went to Israel's high priest to obtain the necessary legal docs. No lines. No, "Please fill out form 27J and have it notarized." Jesus' crucified body had disappeared. The religious leaders were made out to be buffoons. Saul's request was filled in short-order and he was on the road in no time.
By modern roads, it's about 150 miles from Jerusalem to Damascus. With no planes, trains, or automobiles, it likely would have taken Saul and his posse at least a week. Toward the end of the trip we read in Acts 9, "...suddenly a light shone around him from heaven. Then he fell to the ground, and heard a voice saying to him, 'Saul! Saul! Why are you persecuting Me?'"
Saul's reply was the same for anyone suddenly struck with debilitating beams of light from heaven on their murderous quest, "Who are you, Lord?" Saul, the uber-religious murderous zealot, the one with every button, badge, and award imaginable on his nifty "religious accolades" vest, the one blazing new and bloody trails and setting new standards of legalism asked, "Who are you, Kurie?"
Saul had zero objections. Zero. Saul didn't bring up "contradictions" in Scripture, the Big Bang theory, evolution, abiogenesis, dinosaurs, aliens, fine-tuning of the universe, flat earth discussions, or the hypocrisy of religious types. Saul didn't ask, "What's with the lights, bro?" He didn't break out legal docs from the high priest in a fit of pious rage. Oddly, Saul immediately attributed legit authority to the source. His immediate and exclusive question: "Who are you, Kurie?"
The Greek word, Kurie (koo-ree-eh), is no mere formality. The word communicates supreme authority and ownership. Saul only desired to know who Kurie, Supreme Master of All, was.
The short answer to Saul's question: "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting."
Jesus (Greek for Yeshua, meaning Yahweh Saves) is Kurie - Sovereign Lord. In responding He revealed and solidified this absolute truth: How one responds to His followers (disciples, Christians, The Way, the Church, His Body/Bride) is indistinguishable from how we respond to Him.
The short answer to Saul's question: "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting."
Jesus (Greek for Yeshua, meaning Yahweh Saves) is Kurie - Sovereign Lord. In responding He revealed and solidified this absolute truth: How one responds to His followers (disciples, Christians, The Way, the Church, His Body/Bride) is indistinguishable from how we respond to Him.
The presentation of the "Four Spiritual Laws" is strangely absent. Jesus didn't break out a napkin to draw a great chasm between Himself and Saul with the Cross bridging it. Jesus didn't tell Saul, "Close your eyes, pray this prayer, and ask me into your heart." There's oddly no twinkly music, no dimmed lights, no massaging, coercion, or manipulation of emotions. There's no talk of Hell, repentance, or Saul's eternal security or personal salvation.
Yet somehow, despite the glaringly obvious absence of all our modern "essentials" to evangelism, Saul's only possible reply to divine revelation of Jesus as Kurie was this: “Lord, what do You want me to do?” Just like Abram's response to God Almighty telling him "Go," Saul "went."
Jesus' pure and unadulterated Gospel is this: "I, Jesus, the Risen King, I'm Kurie."
We're left to "Go" in obedience as unhindered ambassadors of THAT Gospel. Or not.
Saul later became known as Paul. He traveled through virtually every part of the known world sharing and advancing the Gospel of Jesus, Risen King, Kurie. He established numerous Gospel-communities of "The Way" with this simple Gospel: Jesus, Risen King, Kurie. No spiritual laws, no napkins, no time of invitation, and not talk of personal salvation from Hell.
The Gospel doesn't seek a response. It produces one by default. No massaging or manipulation necessary.
When the simplicity of the unadulterated Gospel went wonky in Gospel-communities (churches), Paul wrote letters (Romans, Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, etc.) to provide the necessary correction. Paul didn't change, add to or subtract from the Gospel. In fact, he pointed out doing so was the root of all the problems in Gospel-communities.
Paul lovingly reminded Timothy of the simplicity of the Gospel, "Remember: Jesus Christ raised from the dead, descended from David. That is my Gospel." He reminded the volatile church in Rome, "I am not ashamed of the Gospel, for it is the power of God unto salvation for everyone believing..."
The power of the Gospel isn't the Gospel.
Our response to the Gospel isn't the Gospel.
Jesus, Risen King, Kurie. That's the Gospel.
Unlike Paul, it turns out we are, in fact, ashamed of the Gospel. Our take today is The Gospel needs Chip and Joanna to give it a makeover. It needs some paint, glitter, and pizazz. It needs to be cool and culturally relevant. It needs an agent, a marketing team, and a campaign manager to do damage control and PR. It needs to "get with the times" to soften its tone and ease-up on the rigid absoluteness.
In shifting the exclusive focus from Jesus, Risen King, Kurie, to ourselves, the customers, the consumers, the end-users and voters, we unveil this reality: We are, in fact, ashamed of The Gospel.
Jesus isn't the Burger King. Turns out, making it about us and having it our way is what got us here in the first place. In the end "our way" only leads to death and we'll take that over Jesus, Risen King, Kurie.
Dr. Robert E. Coleman notes, "Something is missing in the life of the church today. Today's institution has a polite form of religion, but it seems to lack power, the power to radically change the wayward course of society." Coleman is right. What's missing from Gospel-communities is The Gospel.
For centuries we've sown the seeds of a false-gospel and reaped its pathetic harvest: Autonomy. Private religion. Personal relationship. None of which have anything to do with the Gospel or the Gospel-community Jesus died for. We've made private decisions and personal salvation the apex of Christianity. We've witnessed churches, communities, and nuclear families implode. We've seen those personal and private decisions lead to the rejection of Jesus, Risen King, Kurie, and elevate the worship of self through "alternative lifestyles" (homosexuality), "pro-choice" (murder), and "church" transformed into something we "go to" vs. who Jesus called us to "be."
We've reject Jesus' supreme authority. We've supplanted Kurie's design and call to Gospel-community. We've reinvented Jesus, the Risen King, Kurie, and reduced Him to personal Savior. We've reduced The Gospel to its benefit to us. We've utterly abandoned the "doing" Gospel to evidence the reality of "being" Gospel-community. We justify our autonomy and sin with terms like "grace." We parrot Christianisms like, "I couldn't earn it so I can never lose it." We do so to avoid personal responsibility and examination to evidence authentic transformation and conformity into His image and likeness. We justify it all saying any effort to do so is "works-based" or "legalism."
We ignore that Jesus' call for every disciple is this: "Come. Follow me. And I will make you fishers of people." When we look at Scripture to see what Jesus did, we see what it means to follow Him:
The Gospel doesn't seek a response. It produces one by default. No massaging or manipulation necessary.
When the simplicity of the unadulterated Gospel went wonky in Gospel-communities (churches), Paul wrote letters (Romans, Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, etc.) to provide the necessary correction. Paul didn't change, add to or subtract from the Gospel. In fact, he pointed out doing so was the root of all the problems in Gospel-communities.
Paul lovingly reminded Timothy of the simplicity of the Gospel, "Remember: Jesus Christ raised from the dead, descended from David. That is my Gospel." He reminded the volatile church in Rome, "I am not ashamed of the Gospel, for it is the power of God unto salvation for everyone believing..."
The power of the Gospel isn't the Gospel.
Our response to the Gospel isn't the Gospel.
Jesus, Risen King, Kurie. That's the Gospel.
Unlike Paul, it turns out we are, in fact, ashamed of the Gospel. Our take today is The Gospel needs Chip and Joanna to give it a makeover. It needs some paint, glitter, and pizazz. It needs to be cool and culturally relevant. It needs an agent, a marketing team, and a campaign manager to do damage control and PR. It needs to "get with the times" to soften its tone and ease-up on the rigid absoluteness.
In shifting the exclusive focus from Jesus, Risen King, Kurie, to ourselves, the customers, the consumers, the end-users and voters, we unveil this reality: We are, in fact, ashamed of The Gospel.
Jesus isn't the Burger King. Turns out, making it about us and having it our way is what got us here in the first place. In the end "our way" only leads to death and we'll take that over Jesus, Risen King, Kurie.
Dr. Robert E. Coleman notes, "Something is missing in the life of the church today. Today's institution has a polite form of religion, but it seems to lack power, the power to radically change the wayward course of society." Coleman is right. What's missing from Gospel-communities is The Gospel.
For centuries we've sown the seeds of a false-gospel and reaped its pathetic harvest: Autonomy. Private religion. Personal relationship. None of which have anything to do with the Gospel or the Gospel-community Jesus died for. We've made private decisions and personal salvation the apex of Christianity. We've witnessed churches, communities, and nuclear families implode. We've seen those personal and private decisions lead to the rejection of Jesus, Risen King, Kurie, and elevate the worship of self through "alternative lifestyles" (homosexuality), "pro-choice" (murder), and "church" transformed into something we "go to" vs. who Jesus called us to "be."
We've reject Jesus' supreme authority. We've supplanted Kurie's design and call to Gospel-community. We've reinvented Jesus, the Risen King, Kurie, and reduced Him to personal Savior. We've reduced The Gospel to its benefit to us. We've utterly abandoned the "doing" Gospel to evidence the reality of "being" Gospel-community. We justify our autonomy and sin with terms like "grace." We parrot Christianisms like, "I couldn't earn it so I can never lose it." We do so to avoid personal responsibility and examination to evidence authentic transformation and conformity into His image and likeness. We justify it all saying any effort to do so is "works-based" or "legalism."
We ignore that Jesus' call for every disciple is this: "Come. Follow me. And I will make you fishers of people." When we look at Scripture to see what Jesus did, we see what it means to follow Him:
- Jesus personally advanced The Gospel.
- Every disciple is, therefore, a gospelizer.
- Jesus personally taught The Gospel.
- Every disciple is, therefore, a Gospel teacher.
- Jesus personally preached The Gospel.
- Every disciple is, therefore, a Gospel preacher.
- Jesus personally revealed The Gospel.
- Every disciple is, therefore, a Gospel revealer.
- Jesus died for His Bride, Gospel-community.
- Every disciple must, therefore, be part of Gospel-community.
Chances are what's been preached to you is a false-gospel. Chances are someone told you a lie. Chances are they didn't mean to, they simply regurgitated the lie someone told them.
Jesus' disciples never told anyone, "Ask Him into your heart and you'll be saved." Instead, they advanced, taught, preached, revealed, lived and died as gospelizers in Gospel-community who gospelized The Gospel: Jesus, Risen King, Kurie.
Paul lovingly wrote, "Examine yourselves to see whether or not you are in the faith." He did this because Jesus was crystal clear, "Not everyone who says to me 'Lord! Lord!' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven." The will of the Father is that we take the focus completely off ourselves and make it all about Jesus, Risen King, Kurie. The will of the Father is that we become Gospel-community- gospelizers gospelizing The Gospel.
Jesus said His response to the "have it your way" personal salvation and miracles crowd would be this: "I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!'"
Jesus' disciples never told anyone, "Ask Him into your heart and you'll be saved." Instead, they advanced, taught, preached, revealed, lived and died as gospelizers in Gospel-community who gospelized The Gospel: Jesus, Risen King, Kurie.
Paul lovingly wrote, "Examine yourselves to see whether or not you are in the faith." He did this because Jesus was crystal clear, "Not everyone who says to me 'Lord! Lord!' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven." The will of the Father is that we take the focus completely off ourselves and make it all about Jesus, Risen King, Kurie. The will of the Father is that we become Gospel-community- gospelizers gospelizing The Gospel.
Jesus said His response to the "have it your way" personal salvation and miracles crowd would be this: "I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!'"
Jesus, Risen King, Kurie. That's The Good News.
Everyone responds. It's just a matter of how.
Blessings,
-Kevin M. Kelley
aMostUnlikelyDisciple.com
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