Lesson 10: Community in the Gospel
Let’s get back to defining the Gospel in preparation for thinking about what a Gospel Community might be in our time and place. I started doing that by trying to identify the common features in the four gospels and Paul.
Then I got diverted when I naturally turned to John 3:16 which many regard as the “little gospel.” It quickly became apparent if we use it as a summary of the Gospel, we miss some essential parts of the message. It claims God expresses his love for the world by sacrificing his son so believers can inherit eternal life. The focus is on the atonement, individuals, and life after death, at least as it is popularly interpreted.
After reading the four evangelists and Paul, you realize the Gospel goes beyond the Cross. The basic proclamation celebrates God’s presence in our world. Jesus of Nazareth is Immanuel in a very special manner, but he points to other ways that God is, has been, and will be always among us.
It is also obvious that the New Testament Gospel includes all of Jesus’ ministry and that this includes his claim that the Kingdom of God can be started on earth. He operates with divine power to begin healing a damaged creation, purging evil from a corrupted society, and teaching how to live according to God’s will in this peaceful, just, and loving community. This community is the part that is played down when we read the gospel solely in terms of individual salvation.
The resurrection is about so much more than individuals being raised from death to share life with God in heaven. The authorities did not execute Jesus for promising something that happens after death in another place. They needed to remove him for establishing a community that challenged their privilege.
The good news of Easter is that Jesus is raised from death and living among us. He is still healing, purging, and teaching as he builds his beloved community. The crucifixion does not destroy God’s being in this world with us and that means it does not end the availability of the Kingdom of God on earth either.
I suspect part of the reason this community is often absent from the Gospel proclamation is because it has a subversive aspect. Not that it calls for the overthrow of governments, as the conversation with Pilate makes clear. But it does proclaim a truth that transforms people and inspires them to transform society. As soon as you include community in the Gospel, you acknowledge your responsibility to get involved in caring for other people in every way possible. And Jesus observed, at least in the first century, this would turn things upside down making the first last and the last first. Certainly, at least an element of this remains in our time.
Our problem is too much of the Church interprets the Gospel in a way that justifies our salvation by excusing our sin. Supposedly, if we have faith that God’s grace saves us, we can continue what we are doing without any anxiety. Sadly, that lends itself to accepting social programs that ignore Christ’s teachings because it is assumed evil cannot be overcome, the furtherest thing from Jesus’ mind.
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