The other day a video was sent to me so I started to watch it. I couldn’t get beyond the first few minutes because this pastor was redefining the gospel. This is happening more and more in the church so we must continually ask for discernment. I wanted to address two things he said:
He said: “Stop chasing after people who do not want Jesus.” This is wrong on so many levels and contradicts the gospel. In Luke, Jesus gives a parable of the lost sheep. He says that our Shepherd will go out and look for the lost sheep UNTIL he finds him. This means that Jesus never gives up. Jesus’ shows us that no one is beyond help, no one is too far away, and no one is too far gone. When I shared this on social media the other day, several people responded with their story of how someone kept pursuing them. Initially, they didn’t want to be found. But because their pursuer never gave up, they came to know Jesus.
Jesus went to the ends of the earth to rescue me… to capture me. So I should do the same. I think about a friend who was hounded by her neighbor. For years, this neighbor kept inviting her to church and for years, she said NO. The neighbor never gave up. So to get her neighbor off her back, she relented and went. And it was there where she heard the gospel and came to know Jesus. Thank goodness for her neighbor, right?
This pastor also said: “If you want to enter into covenant, then you must get rid of your sinful lifestyle first.” Again, this is wrong. I think about Zacchaeus. Jesus didn’t say to him, “Zacchaeus, if you want me to come to your house today, then you need to pay back what you stole from people.” No, He said, “Zacchaeus, I’m coming to your house today.” And it was Jesus’ presence that brought him face to face with his sin. Transformation happens after we come. We are invited into His presence with all our messiness, dysfunction, dirtiness, and baggage.
Let me encourage you today to keep coming and keep going… keep coming into His presence so that transformation will take place and keep going after those who are running away. This is the gospel pure and simple. And while you’re doing this, keep praying for discernment because there are many in the church who are twisting or redefining the gospel.