a thesis

i have to write a paper tonight that answers the question "what is the gospel?"

this paper is supposed to be my take on the true meaning of the gospel, as well as something of a literary/theological review of theologians who have helped to shape my own theology of the gospel. we also have to connect this meaning to both the old and new testaments.

at the moment, my very basic thesis is this:

"the gospel" can be defined as the good news of God's ongoing participation in human existence for the sake of salvation.

this may sound heretical, but i believe that the good news of the gospel is not necessarily the fact that Jesus became incarnate, lived, died, and rose again in order to enact salvation. to me, the true power of Jesus' life and ministry in terms of salvation lies in the power and love of the God who chose to send his Son to earth. there is some good news to be found in the fact that Jesus did what he did, but to me, there is a bigger chunk of good news found in the fact that God loved the world enough to choose to save it. that God has participated in our lives throughout all of history, both pre-Jesus and post-Jesus. that at every moment since creation, God has been right there alongside humans, being an agent both of love and judgment - but always for the sake of salvation.

i also need to grapple with the meaning of the word "salvation." as you look at Christianity, and especially the relationship between socio-economic status and Christianity, this word "salvation" is not as simple as a lot of us mainline american protestant Christians would like to believe.

it is important to recognize the global face of Christianity, and also the contextual nature of faith. if we are willing to talk about salvation in relationship to socioeconomic status and to life circumstance, then we see salvation as a concept is in direct relationship to that which we cannot control. in the poorest Christian communities, salvation is very this-worldly: Christ as savior is Christ as provider. faith is a matter of securing basic needs – salvation, then, is provision. in communities that have secured for themselves the ability to provide for their own basic needs, the focus of salvation shifts. now there is room for self-analysis and for the concept of potential. there is the time to focus effort on the self and on imagining both an ideal self and an ideal community. to this end, salvation might be considered in terms of self-realization. Christ’s mission to the world, in this worldview, was to liberate humanity for greater purposes. salvation, then, is rationality. in communities that have secured both their basic needs and their own rational self-actualization, there remains nothing left to be saved from except for the despair with wondering “is this all there is to life?” here, Christian salvation finally takes on its postmortem form. after conquering life itself, this community seeks to secure its place after death. this sort of community has the luxury to view salvation as apart from this lackluster world. here, salvation is finding meaning in the hope of eternal life…somewhere better than where we are now

third-world countries, industrializing countries, and wealthy countries really do have different ideas of what salvation is. they each use the concept of salvation to reflect their faith in a higher being to secure that which they cannot control on their own: the procurement of basic needs, the possibility for advancement, and the fulfillment of the soul.

a gospel which restricts salvation to only one of many possible definitions is not accurate, in my opinion. there certainly exists salvation in the old testament - and in this way, we have to remember that the good news of the gospel to Christians cannot ignore the saving work of God before the incarnation of Christ. it seems to me that the good news of the gospel can indeed be very far-reaching. i want to protect the mystery and sovereignty of God when i define the gospel, and i think that by focusing on salvation in this way, i have a chance at both protecting that mystery and thereby illuminating the other persons of the trinity in the work of salvation. this is not to say that i am trying to create a theology of salvation that ignores Christ, nor am i trying to advocate for an understanding of salvation that does necessitate Christ. i'm merely trying to focus on God as the acting agent of salvation through Christ, and God as the initiator of salvation for the world.

this is good news to me. how about to you?