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I visited a “nondenominational” church last Saturday. night. The one thing from the message I took away was this. The pastor wanted to emphasize how we all need to be able to share the Gospel. He said “it’s so simple… just memorize John 3:16. That’s the Gospel.”
It struck me as something at the heart of American Evangelicalism. We believe the Gospel can be summed up in that one verse. I don’t think a single verse exists in the New testament that can communicate the Gospel, but there are much better passages.
I went to an Anglican Church Sunday morning. The central message was about the tragic story of David and Absalom. The Eucharist was the best part of the Liturgy, as it should be, but here they had 3 college-age kids playing keyboards, guitar and violin accompanying. Their joy in playing gives me hope. The experience was the most moving I’ve had yet visiting churches.
I’m sure that to many people today in the U.S, particularly younger people, John 3:16, if they heard or read it somewhere, would be nothing but gibberish. It already has to have some kind of meaning to someone for it to convey the gospel; without that, the best it can do is invite many questions that can must be responded to with wise and patient answers in both word and deed if the gospel is to be conveyed. The erroneous suggestion that the gospel can be expressed and conveyed in a sentence or two is only possible in a culture saturated with commercials that have captured the hearts and minds of many in the church.
Martin Luther referred to John 3:16 as “the Gospel in a nutshell”. My beef with this one verse as Gospel is that Jesus is reduced to a sacrifice made so that you can have eternal life. Belief is all that is required, which today becomes reduced to a simple mental acknowledgement. Its where we get the Sinners’s Prayer, and the Four Spiritual Laws. Funny how Jesus didn’t lead Nicodemus in a prayer to accept Him into his heart right then and there.
I’m trying to find a book by Helen Oppenheimer who was a British Anglican theologian. It came out in the early 70s. I’ve tried the usual places but not having much success. Wondering if anyone knows of any used theological book websites. Thank you!