After John was arrested, Jesus went to Galilee and told the good news that comes from God. He said, “The time has come! God’s kingdom will soon be here. Turn back to God and believe the good news!” (Mark 1:14, 15 – CEV)
Reading this part of Mark bugged me. It bugged me for a reason. (Funnily enough, however, in contrast to the song lyric that suggests that the reason should be love, it wasn’t the primary motivating factor in the bugging).
I remember growing up (I do, I was there at the time) and in the particular church expression in which I was raised there was the occasional handing out of tracts that explained elements of the Christian faith to strangers in the hope that they would read the tract and then visit our church. The number of assumptions made in that ‘evangelistic’ approach can be considered in another blog entry. For the time being though, one element of the strategy was telling people a similar message that Jesus was proclaiming, namely the need for people to repent.
Yet our understanding of that word in the context of the whole schtick that Jesus was putting across is very important. For example, maybe it’s my discoloured view of my history, my encounters with repent were not in warm, inviting tones. It was usually a stark clarion call. It suggested that there was wrong done that you needed to stop or else you’re in trouble.
Now there are elements in the concept of repentance that requires acknowledgement of wrong-doing. For example it’s implicit within the concept of repentance that you’re going the wrong way – that’s why you need to change your mind, to change the direction in which you’re heading. All stating clearly that the path pursued previously was wrong. So repentance is a strong word even in the immediate context of both Jesus’ ministry and its continuation from John’s declarations.
Stopping here though, and stressing this, makes a fatal error in the whole point of evangelism – it’s meant to be the sharing of good news. The coming Kingdom of God is good news. It’s not bad news – it’s good news. Jesus’ proclamation was an invitation. A warm, welcoming, joyful invitation. An invitation that accept the good news and embrace, to do what was necessary to be a recipient of the good news.
Let me say that again – God’s Kingdom and will done on earth as it is in heaven is good news. It’s fullest expression and manifestation was not just at the cross, but also in the resurrection, ascension and promised return of the King and His Kingdom. That’s far more than just sins forgiven. That’s far more than just your own eternal life in place. This is far more than that. This is the promise of the inauguration of a rule that is inevitable and will cover the entire cosmos and see righteousness, peace and joy be the foundations on which everything is built. This is the restoration of all things in the culmination of all things in the ruler of all things – Jesus Christ. This is the eradication of sin and death. This is wholeness as longed for by the whole of creation. This is righteousness as desperately sought after by the whole of creation. This is a joy that overwhelms and infuses each being beyond our own contemplation.
This is good news.
I wonder sometimes in Christian life, whatever happened to the good news. Whatever happened to people’s lives being forever transformed by the good news and an impulse to proclaim it when and wherever possible? It’s not giving tracts, it’s giving good news. It’s not pointing out people’s flaws and saying shape up – it’s pointing to a new rule where the King covers the flaws and replaces the heart of stone with a heart of flesh responsive to the impulses of righteousness, peace and joy.
That’s good news.
That should affect our relationships, it should affect human engagements. Yet in some Christian circles it either is rendered into a doom and gloom pronouncement of telling people to get right, or worse still it is minimalised in the Jesus pursuit and left to ‘experts’ to do in special services. What kind of good news is that?
Oh for the heart of the good news to enthuse those who’ve heard and received it to go tell somebody else!
For His Name’s Sake
Shalom
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