Is the Gospel too simple?
Have you ever read a news headline only to find out later that the real story was not at all what you first thought?
I had come to realize many years ago that the Gospel so commonly preached today doesn't seem to be much like the "Gospel of the Kingdom of God" preached by Jesus and his disciples. What John the Baptizer preached and was repeated by Jesus and His trained sent-ones (apostles) was the Good-News of "the Kingdom of God." But today what you hear as the "Gospel" says nothing about the Kingdom. You don't even hear the word "Kingdom."
Now I am not saying that the gospel preached today is wrong or false, but it is definitely incomplete!
But if it is left so incomplete, perhaps it may even be worse than a "false gospel."
Why do I say that?
Well if you give people an incomplete message long enough, they will become convinced it is all there is, and will not be open to hear the more complete message. But if they hadn't heard the incomplete "gospel" all their life first, they just might respond well to the fuller message when they hear it for the first time.
Does that make sense? Can you see how that can happen?
I am by no means the first or only person to see that the gospel preached by typical modern Christianity is sorely incomplete. Here is a collection of quotes from various other people about the difference between the gospel of "salvation" and the "gospel of the Kingdom": Quotes.
I have been troubled by this for many years. But in recent days I have had a thought expanding on that idea.
Here is my new thought:
When the Gospel is Too Simple,
The Truth becomes Way Too Complicated!
Why would that be?
Well, when the "too simple" gospel is preached, ... for decades ... in your church, you think you've got it. But then when you read all kinds of things in the Bible that don't seem to line up with that "simple gospel" you have to jump through all kinds of complicated hoops to make it sound like they fit correctly. And everybody who does this comes up with all kinds of very different ways to construct their "systematic theologies" to try to fit with their understanding.
The result; ... total chaos, ... 40,000 denominations, dozens of different "systematic theologies."
My corollary to the above statement is:
When the Gospel is More Complete,
The Truth begins to Fall Into Place.
I purposely said "More" Complete, and "begins" to fall into place, because I'm not going to pretend to know that "Complete Gospel" nor all the "Truth in its correct place." But I believe that it the direction we need to go. And I believe God is calling some to do just that together. It takes the "body" to do that!