Don’t Stop The Gospel From Being Presented

Word-Of-The-Day: ‘(38) “Teacher,” said John, “we saw someone driving out demons in your name and we told him to stop, because he was not one of us.” (39) “Do not stop him,” Jesus said. “For no one who does a miracle in my name can in the next moment say anything bad about me, (40) for whoever is not against us is for us.”’ (Mark 9:38-40)

Occasionally, we come across something that is attempting to promote Jesus or Christianity, but it may – in our opinion – miss the mark or be light in content, or something we don’t care for.  It is not blatantly wrong, just something that in our eyes touches the Gospel without full explanation or touches the Gospel differently than how we would convey the message.  I think of that famous theological group ‘The Doobie Brothers’ song, ‘Jesus Is Just Alright’, for example. (OK, truth in advertising, the Doobies aren’t theological in their music.)  It’s a catchy feel-good song and it does convey the message that Jesus is our friend.  But it lacks the context of how He is our friend, how can He become a friend?  It is a light touch on a much deeper subject.  Does that make it inappropriate?  In my opinion, no…

Are songs like ‘Jesus Is Just Alright’, or the ‘He Gets Us’ commercials we see on TV, good for Christianity as a whole?  What of the use of music genres like rap, heavy metal, or even bluegrass?  How about Broadway plays like ‘Godspell’ or ‘Jesus Christ Superstar’?  Not everything we see or hear is our ‘cup of tea’ (and if you don’t like tea, then it’s way out there).   Jesus was confronted with this in Mark 9, when the Apostles came to Him, reporting that someone not like them was doing an action (driving out demons) in Jesus’ name, likely doing it differently then they ‘approved’ of or learned how to do. 

Often, we see someone teaching or preaching in a manner not normally the way we see, using video graphics, or electronic musical cues to provide a Biblically-related message, perhaps even someone playing <gasp> an electric guitar.  Carl Kirby uses flashy graphics to grab the attention of younger audience members to teach Biblical principles, for example.  It may not be how I would approach it, but is it wrong – of course not. Don’t let your preferences stop the Gospel from being provided to someone who may need to see from a different angle.

Jesus’ response was ‘Don’t stop them from providing the Gospel’.  If the message does not go against the Gospel, it should be allowed to be presented.  Christianity needs have the Gospel message broadcast out, unchanged and without addition or subtraction to it, but it can be done diversely.   We who have been in church awhile like the hymns of the past, but can that appeal to a non-Christian who listens to rap?  For those people to hear a Gospel presentation, they will respond to ‘Christian rap’, with the Truth in it, more so than an old hymn from the late 1800’s.  We are not to put out the fire of the Gospel message, and allow it to adapt in the presentation to reach others who are different from us without changing the meaning of the message. 

Not all messages need to be deep in theology to be convey their point.  Back just before I became a Believer in 1995, there was a message simply given as ‘WWJD?’, or ‘What Would Jesus Do?’.  It encouraged people to think about what would Jesus do in a situation one found themselves in, not necessarily teaching a particular lesson but instead teaching people to use what they knew to act Righteously like Jesus, or if not known, to find a Biblical message on how Jesus would handle a similar situation.  For a seasoned Christian, it is still good to ask ourselves, ‘WWJD?’ when confronted with situations we find ourselves in with conflicting responses.

If the message is not Biblical, but secular in nature and misuses the name Jesus or quotes the Bible erroneously, it is wrong and should be denounced as such.  Progressive Christianity uses half-truths and misquotes to convey a message of a false Gospel and is blasphemous.  However, if the message is Biblical, and though light in content or delivered in a method different than we think is appropriate, we need to ask ‘WWJD?’ and perhaps look at who the message is for, and remember what Jesus said to John and the Apostles, ‘whoever is not against us is for us.’