The Gospel: Soaked in Love, Absolute in Truth, and in Direct Opposition to Our Culture

Last night I was reading through 2nd Timothy and there was one theme that stuck out to me in almost every single verse. Now, 2nd Timothy is the second letter written by the apostle Paul to a young man, Timothy, who was in a town in which many people were starting to turn away from faith in Christ. Paul, at the time, was imprisoned in Rome. So picture this: an older, wiser man in prison as a direct result of his preaching the Gospel, is now (while in prison) writing a letter to Timothy who resides in a town that is rapidly turning away from the Gospel. Which, given the nature of the law in those days, means that ultimately, this town will likely imprison people for preaching the Gospel. Get that? It's nuts.

Okay so that's enough history. The theme that just screamed in my head over and over is how incredibly countercultural the Gospel is. As Christians, we say this all the time. Jesus broke social boundaries, the Gospel calls us to live differently, etc. But last night as I read through Paul's charges to Timothy, I began to see even more how radical this theme is in the Gospel. Listen to this, Paul says: 

"He has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time" 

2 Timothy 1:9

This stands out in our culture for a few obvious reasons. Number one, where in our culture, friend circles, jobs, schools, are we called to live a holy life? We (or at least I), have grown up thinking and believing that our reputation is incredibly important to our identity and our abilities. This belief, from what I've gathered, is innate. Again, we aren't told by any of our elders or influences to uphold our reputation to the best of our abilities. Sure, maybe once we get older we're encouraged to build a "full" resume which could be argued to be a "paper reputation", but we're not directly told, "make sure others think highly of you". Yet, we spend so much time and effort ensuring that this be the case. So, although this aspect of our culture isn't thoroughly verbalized, it is incredibly prominent. However, the Gospel (specifically Paul here), is preaching that we must live holy lives. This lifestyle is not even the least bit dependent on the judgement of others on you. However, it wholly resides on something else that Paul shares in the next part of the verse.

"Not because of anything we have done, but because of his own purpose and grace". Huh? You're trying to tell me my efforts to live a holy life are motivated by something other than my own strength and desires? Where do you see this in our culture? I'll use an example that is especially potent to me because of where I am in my life. In college, your performance determines what rewards or consequences you will receive. Tangibly, my grades. If I study hard for a test, it is more than likely that I'll get a good grade on it (barring factors like lack of sleep, an overly challenging test, etc.). It makes sense! But the Gospel says it has nothing to do with what you do. You are given grace freely. God hands out A+'s to all those who come and ask! Granted, this isn't the only aspect of the Gospel that you need to grasp in order to follow Jesus, but it is the truth none-the-less.

There's one very large aspect of the Gospel that is so countercultural that many Christians (including myself) have a hard time talking about it to those who don't believe in it. That is that the Gospel claims to be (and is) an absolute Truth. Jesus, all throughout the Gospel accounts of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, shouts this. He says in John 14:6: "I am the way, the truth, the life; no one comes to the Father except through me" and in Matthew 7:13 "Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it." 

In our "open-minded" society, tolerance, equality, and acceptance is emphasized more than anything else. "You can believe what you want, and therefore for you, it's the truth". Do I have a problem with tolerance, equality, and acceptance? Not even in the slightest. In fact I do my best to practice these virtues. But it's when the word truth gets put into these situations that I do have a problem with. It's when tolerance turns into a belief that whatever it is that you're tolerating is a reality. It's when equality for everyone interferes with what us, as Christians, know to be the truth. It's when we accept other people's beliefs to "work for them" even though we claim to believe in a God that claims to be the only one. 

This aspect of the Gospel is harsh and can be taken as offensive. But it doesn't stand alone. A pharisee (teacher of the law) expecting to trip Jesus up might I add, asked Jesus what the greatest commandment is. He replied simply: "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself." Matthew 22:37-39. Think about what this means. If this is the greatest commandment, the only conclusion you can make about Christianity is that it is a religion based around love. How can something be so drenched in love, yet in such great opposition to our culture? Well, that's a topic for another post. 

For now, I want to make a charge very similar to that of Paul's to Timothy. "Join with me in suffering, like a good soldier of Christ Jesus." (2 Timothy 2:3). This, again, is countercultural. He asks Timothy to suffer. He knows that suffering will come onto Timothy because of the nature of the Gospel. So, by charging him to suffer he is simultaneously asking him to live holy. Living holy, by the absolute truth of the Gospel, loving the Lord God with all your heart, and loving others will bring about suffering, but it brings about hope. A hope that triumphs over all of the hurt and suffering that comes along with it. 

These are the things that God has put on my heart and revealed to me through His Word. As I continue to pray that God will show me more and more of His face, I urge you as well to seek after him. He will answer. 

Pray for me.