The Gospel in Brief

For the gospel to be more effective, we all have to absorb it fully. There is a tendency to theologize the good news within a doctrinal and theoretical framework, but little initiative to put theory into practice. This inevitably produces a synthetic faith. Christian culture is naive to believe that the message of salvation alone is enough to draw souls to Christ.

Some preachers preach to the empty air, while others fill churches with a hollow, malnourished message. The truth is that the gospel takes on a supernatural dimension when it is embodied. The dividing line between the Christian and the atheist is in danger of disappearing. May God keep us from standing with our arms crossed, watching the coffin of faith pass before our eyes without any serious consequences. We must fight the good fight. “Fight the good fight of faith; take hold of the eternal life to which you were called…” (1 Tim 6:12).

Do you know what kind of faith I am talking about? Faith when you tremble before the name of God, faith when you recognize your inadequacy in difficult situations, faith when you do not understand God’s purposes in what is happening to you and your family but know that “it will work for your good,” faith when you pray for the impossible, trusting that He will act, faith when you are thrown into the lions’ den and know beforehand that the Lord will tend them so they do not reduce you to a mass of flesh and blood.

The concise gospel is based on living faith in Christ. With such faith, you can leap from the pinnacle of the temple, certain that His angels will not let you crash to the ground. Because of that faith, the devil fled with his tail between his legs. This is the faith of the concise gospel.

The concise gospel does not rely on clerical structures or human ministries to carry it forward, but on a simple conviction: God loves me and expects me to love others in proportion to His love for me. He wants us to love our neighbors by presenting Jesus as “the only mediator between God and humankind” (1 Tim 2:5). To do this, our faith must not move back and forth between the transcendent and the worldly… it cannot be fickle or skin-deep, but must be visible in practice, reflected in daily life, even when no one sees us but God.

The days of ecumenical debates and conflicting theological arguments have passed. Theology must be a garment tailored to our spiritual needs, to our need to depend more and more on Christ to resolve today’s conflicts and dilemmas, from the home to the ends of the earth. The concise gospel proclaims Christ from the trenches of faith; it offers no glib solutions and promises no prosperity to those who decide to follow Him. It has impact, imparts life, is relational, a friend and companion. It seeks the truth in the Scriptures (Jesus is the truth) and understands eternal life as beginning when one embraces saving faith in the redeemer of humanity. “If someone comes to you preaching a Jesus different from the one we preached to you, or if you receive a spirit or a gospel different from the ones you have already received, you put up with that person easily” (2 Cor 11:4)

Recently a pastor from my country, with a sorrowful face and tearful eyes, said to me, “We need the government to give us more opportunities to preach Christ in Cuba.” Without thinking, I answered, “No, what we need is courageous people who will become more involved in the task of preaching a real Christ who transforms lives.” It is only an illustration. The point is that we always blame something or someone to cover up our inadequacies… and the world continues to collapse before its god, who has blinded its understanding “so that it cannot see the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God” (2 Cor 4:4).

People need to see that Christians make Christianity relevant, urgent, indispensable. At first, they do not understand whether heaven is a gift or hell is the destiny of sinners. They want to see that Christianity is a better way to live, one that renews and encourages people to live with purpose and well-founded joy. Let us understand that when God looks at us, He wants to see the image of His Son Jesus Christ reflected in us.

May God bless His Word!