Nothing is more frustrating than a machine you need that does not work.
Twice.
A group of friends has been building a disc golf course since December of last year. One of the key tools we use is a chainsaw. Two chainsaws are better than one when it comes to our project. A few weeks ago, my friend Brett brought his chainsaw. We could not get it started. Eventually, we got it running. What a relief!
Then, last Friday, I had a short window to mow, given the forecast. I feared that if I let it go much longer, I might receive a citation for an unkempt lawn. Yes, it is a thing.
No matter what I did, I could not get my mower started. I eventually ran the battery down. Fortunately, I called my friend Glenn, who had worked on it for me. Don’t ask him how bad it was. He will tell you! He took a look, and after remarking on how dirty it was when he cleaned it up and repaired it for me, he assessed the carburetor needed to be worked over. (My new carburetor came in the mail today.)
Glenn saved the day when he offered his mower. He then went and retrieved a second mower and helped me get the lawn cut before any rain came.
Again, there is nothing more frustrating than a machine you need that does not work.
The Gospel is not a machine.
Two recent surveys caught my attention. One survey (PRRI) revealed that church attendance had dropped significantly in all categories since 1972. From weekly attendance to never attending, the trend is down.
Thom Rainer wrote a piece about a longitudinal study that led him to underscore that the reason church attendance has fallen off and people are leaving the church,
They left church because they said they did not believe what the church taught.
Rainer follows up with,
But I suspect that they did not believe because they really did not know what the church taught. In other words, we have an assimilation and dropout problem because our churches are not adequately teaching the Bible and the essentials of the Christian faith.
Maybe Rainer is right.
But, I want to suggest there may be another aspect to what he describes. My anecdotal evidence indicates that some leave the church because 1) it does nothing for them. (“I don’t miss it.”) and/or 2) it doesn’t work for them anymore. I do think we may collapse both of these into the latter,
It quit working for me.
But the Gospel Good News is unlike a chainsaw or a zero-turn mower. It is not a matter of whether or not it works. Maybe it is a steady diet of sermons advising on subjects like marriage, mental health, or financial success that trained more than one generation to think of the Gospel as life-coaching advice. Once received, it is a matter of implementing new ideas, habits, and practices. When those areas of life do not improve, what’s to blame? The advice. No one would ever question whether or not the implementation was at fault, even if that were clearly demonstrated. We refuse the blame.
The Gospel is not a machine that works. The Gospel is a Truth to trust. More than that, the Gospel is an announcement that is true for you. Whether you implement anything or not, the Gospel of Jesus is true that we are forgiven, loved, and known and that one day all that is wrong will be made right. God has seen to it in Jesus. It is not a matter of working for you. It is true.
Warning: The Gospel works against you!
That is, if you think the Gospel is a machine that you put to work, it will actually work against you. The Good News of the Kingdom calls into question our allegiance, our desires, our wills, and our intentions. Read the Sermon on the Mount. And after reading the Sermon on the Mount, be glad that Jesus is our salvation from our misguided allegiances, our selfish desires, stubborn wills, and our deceitful intentions.
God revealed in Jesus, who is Lord, works for you and in you.
The Gospel is not a machine.