In recent posts and comment interaction we have tried to expose a certain fruitlessness in the debate regarding church planting methods. To a degree, this debate ignores what is most critical in church planting—our understanding, articulation, and embodiment of the historic gospel of Jesus Christ.
Are methods entirely untethered to gospel? Are there certain, more biblically faithful understandings of the gospel that will produce certain, more theologically faithful churches? If so, what about the gospel needs to be debated? What misunderstandings and misinterpretations of the gospel are we in danger of succumbing to?
In his newest book, Christless Christianity, Michael Horton argues that it is a semi-pelagian understanding of the gospel that most endangers the American church. He claims that American Protestantism has been dominated by semi-pelagianism, what I’ll call a 50/50 understanding of the gospel—we are saved by fifty percent grace and fifty percent works—God’s assistance in our choosing.
This gospel unabashedly undermines the doctrine of original sin and total depravity. We aren’t enemies of God; we’re just wayward souls in need of redirection. But did Jesus die merely to redirect meandering people? Surely his teachings would have sufficed to correct our wayward morals. No, Jesus died to atone for our high treason, both inherited and enacted, against the Lord of All. We have deliberately refused holiness and sought therapy for our sin sick souls. If we are not truly sinners and need just the divine assistance of a kindly Christ, then the gospel is reduced to moral rehabilitation and spiritual highs.
How does a 50/50 gospel affect church planting? A fifty-fifty gospel will produce a thrifty, nifty church. Like a church building I pass every time on my way to Dallas, we will end up offering “30 minute worship, guaranteed!” Harmless, cheap, convenient, or your money back guaranteed. A 50/50 gospel will inevitably lead to no gospel at all and a church that is reduced to attracting people interested in an occasional dose of moral redirection and a quick spiritual high. We will produce addicts not disciples, events not churches.
In the end, a 50/50 gospel will result in churches that are mainly services, places where the weary moralist turns up for a fresh filling of “you can do its” in order to continue tickering along in his own strength for his own goodness. This kind of gospel is worse that diluted gas. The human engine will putter along without ever knowing the difference between 100 proof gospel and 50/50, puttering all the way to hell. If the American church is to faithfully embody the gospel of Jesus Christ, we will have to get our doctrine of sin and grace right, not just in our preaching but also in our planting.
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December 19, 2008 at 5:42 pm
Dangers of a 50/50 Gospel « Creation Project
[…] of a 50/50 Gospel Posted by Jonathan Dodson under Theology | Tags: Gospel-centered | Here. […]
December 19, 2008 at 7:07 pm
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December 22, 2008 at 6:53 pm
The 50/50 Gospel - II « Church Planting Novice
[…] attempted to answer that question by suggesting that some church methods operate on a 50/50 gospel, an understanding of the good news that relies on 50% of our behavior and 50% God’s grace. […]
December 22, 2008 at 10:56 pm
OD Today 22 December 2008 « Online Discernment Today
[…] Christless Christianity claim that American Protestantism is dominated by semi-Pelagianism, both on his own weblog and at Creation Project. I kind of think it’s touching that he doesn’t seem to know […]
December 22, 2008 at 11:12 pm
50/50 or 100 Percent Gospel? « Creation Project
[…] attempted to answer that question by suggesting that some church methods operate on a 50/50 gospel, an understanding of the good news that relies on 50% of our behavior and 50% God’s grace. This […]
January 3, 2009 at 6:42 pm
Peggy
Interesting post, Jonathan. However, I believe that many who buy into the 50/50 idea have made a zero-sum game where it is not necessarily intended. I believe it is supposed to be 100/100 — it is 100% God’s grace and provision that brings us into the New Covenant in Jesus but it is also 100% our engagement with and submission to “Jesus is Lord” that lights the gospel fire that will sweep over the world and its cultures.
Scot McKnight gets to this with The Jesus Creed–loving God and loving others, and I have come to realize that this 100/100 is misunderstood or ignored because too many have not understood covenant and covenant keeping (cHesed) in its New Covenant context. We are to be “in Christ”, which speaks to God’s provision in Jesus + our acceptance of the gift. But we are also to be “like Christ”, which speaks to the Holy Spirit’s on-going transforming work + our duty to love God and love others. And finally, if we are in Christ + like Christ = with Christ — and this is where we engage with Christ in Kingdom mission, joining the 100% of God’s redeeming effort with 100% of our effort to practice cHesed, where we both activate and then “infect” the cultures around us with what Alan Hirsch calls mDNA.
I find it’s “simplexity” worth pondering.
Shalom
January 3, 2009 at 7:01 pm
Jonathan Dodson
Agreed, Peggy. Good thoughts.
I was simply trying to rectify one side of the equation, to push the metaphor. A 100 percent gospel certainly calls for 100 percent submission to Jesus as Lord; however, the problem is that our gospel does not proclaim him as Lord. All too often it is a Jesus is our Doctrine or Jesus is our Personal Savior or Jesus is our Example, with very little regard for the all-encompassing claim of Jesus’ lordship over all of life. If we do not get the gospel of Jesus lordship correct, our 100% efforts will be to another lord namely doctrine, individualism, or moralism. Once we understand, preach, and embrace the gospel as Jesus is Lord of all (personal, doctrinal, and social), we will live it out in all aspects of life.
January 4, 2009 at 9:06 am
Peggy
Understood. I am definitely not a fan of the “simplistic” Gospel being dished up in way too many places, either.
I have at times recommended that folks watch The Last Samurai and ponder what the church would be like if those who say they follow Christ as Lord actually lived like those who live under a Samurai as liege lord. Truly, too few understand the implications of lordship….
October 28, 2010 at 11:54 pm
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[…] Dodson: the dangers of a 50/50 gospel. Read this post. Comments 20 Dec 2008, 11:54am by Jonathan […]