The Gospel "Product"

As an introduction to a lecture on general and special revelation we were asked the question "what kind of product is the gospel?" (all credit to Will Orpwood for the ideas following, who I thought was an excellent lecturer) as in, is it a "demand leading supply product" or a "supply leading demand product"? Discussion ranged from demand, because the gospel was expected by the law, which was meant to drive people to Christ, to supply, because we need some awakening by God to see and understand etc. There were cases put forward for each side, including Ecclesiastes as the story of one man looking through his options for something to meet his need. My initial thought was supply, because God made us, and made us for relationship with him so it's all his work and provision to give us the gospel (that being Jesus) and call us to himself ... but I guess you could then argue for demand, since we now have this massive need for the contents of the gospel (whether we realise it or not). Anyway, it's not a question that needs and answer, and no answer was given. The best strategy is to flood the market with the gospel! (especially in this age of biblical illiteracy).

And we must tell the TRUTH of the gospel. Richard Coekin from the UK spoke at my church on Sunday night on methods for mission (from 2 Corinthians 4:1-12). He stressed the importance of telling the truth, which might sound rather obvious, but it's about not tampering with God's word to make the "product" more popular (so in that sense the PERCEIVED demand doesn't drive the supply - but people's real demand/need is for the gospel as it is supplied). He went on to say that we must never manipulate, be deceitful, take advantage of vulnerable people, promise things the bible doesn't, use the gospel for selfish gain, resist the temptation to (only) evangelise poeple who will benefit us (had to think about that - mission dating comes to mind perhaps?!) ... Everything in life is better for knowing Jesus but it's not as good now as it will be and we need to explain the judgment, the punishment that Jesus took and the future, because there is no point filling the church with people going to hell.

And the extraordinary thing is that, good as the product is, we're to expect blindness/rejection. There will always be people who don't want the gospel, and we're not to be tempted by disappointment to change the product. Richard mentioned the parable of the soils, saying that it won't be any better for us than it was for Jesus (I found that quite a liberating notion!), so we mustn't get frustrated and aim for "success".

(That's verses 1-4. We're also to preach Christ (5-6) and accept our own weakness (7-12) but lunch time draws to a close and does anyone actually read long blogs?)

So, it is a unique "product" we have, but what matters is that we peddle it honestly and flood the market ...

(If you don't know what I mean by the "gospel" see the link to "Two Ways to Live" on the right.)