King Jesus and the Gospel

In 2011, Scott McKnight published a book titled The King Jesus Gospel. One year later, in 2012, N.T. Wright published a book addressing similar thoughts titled How God Became King. McKnight and Wright each attempt to address a simple question: what do we mean when we use the "gospel." A divide Among Western evangelicals may be growing between the term "gospel" and the phrase "a plan of salvation." Some Christians claim the gospel is preached at their church each week, while others complain that their church never preaches the gospel. McKnight and Wright each agree that the truth expressed as the gospel is taught, spoken, preached, shared, and discussed does not wander into heresy. Still, neither author agrees that the Biblical gospel is identical to the gospel of Western evangelicals. In their books, McKnight and Wright agree that Western evangelicals' gospel reflects the biblical gospel but often focuses primarily on Christ's role in salvation and is reduced to four or five key points. In other words, something is missing. 

During my years as a youth pastor, I talked to students about the significance of what now seems like insignificant decisions later on in life. I used a teaching experience where I would run a line of yarn across the room from one side to the other. The taught straight line indicates no deviation from what is true. Next, I would have a student hold the yardstick against the wall aligned with the yarn. I would ask the student to indicate a deviation from the line representing an insignificant bad choice. The student usually angled the other end of the yardstick just a couple of inches off the yarn. Usually, the student's 'small error' from the true line would only measure one or two inches. I would then ask another pair of students to run a second yarn line, starting at the same place as the first but aligned to the yardstick. The point where the yarn touched the opposite wall would be feet away from the original, true line. On September 23, 1999, NASA encountered this problem and put a satellite in orbit around Mars. Their positioning was slightly off due to a unit conversion; they still sent the satellite to Mars, but instead of being in orbit, they hit Mars, destroying the satellite and the 125 million-dollar mission. Small errors in understanding the gospel may not cause heresy or undo the Christian faith. Still, small misunderstandings may have left the Western church unprepared for the challenges of an ever-changing Western Culture.

Even a small misunderstanding of the gospel may have a cascading effect on our understanding of the form and function of the church. For instance, we may misunderstand the church because we misunderstand the gospel. McKnight suggests that we may misunderstand the gospel by over-emphasizing what we are saved from rather than what we are being saved into. McKnight emphasizes the need for a gospel rich in theology representing the full biblical text, which includes Jesus as King and us as His royal priests. I agree with McKnight and would add that our understanding of the gospel should also include a rich theology of work and the church as a disciplemaking movement (a movement with an expiration date- when Jesus returns).

McKnight and Wright both suggest that we misunderstand the gospel because we have disconnected Jesus from His Jewish upbringing and, in so doing, from God's story of His relentless and loving pursuit of humanity through Abraham, Isaac, and Israel. While the gospel of Western evangelicals maintains Jesus' messianic accomplishment- Jesus is our savior and redeemer. By disconnecting Jesus from His Jewish theological history, we also disconnect Jesus from His messianic authority. Western Evangelicalism has over-promoted a Jesus-as-Savior gospel to assure us that we will go to heaven when we die. The biblical gospel reflects a richer Jesus-as-savior-and-king gospel through which we are saved and grafted into God's family and raised to rule alongside Christ. 

Here is my take on the King Jesus gospel: The King Jesus gospel is a gospel that rescues us from our rebellion against God and transforms us (through Messiah Jesus's life, death, resurrection, and ascension) into His children, His Icons, His Imagers, His Royal Priests who, alongside our older brother Jesus, will care for and protect all of creation so that God is glorified through Jesus Christ among all people.

I am certain that my understanding of the gospel needs to grow. As certain as we can see the blindspots of others, others will see my blindspots. I pray that together, we will continue to grow in our understanding of the good news of Jesus. The forecast is positive for Western Evangelicals. The reduced gospel expressed in the rallies, sermons, and tracts of the late 1960s brought many of us into a real relationship with Jesus, their king. May the gospel that we proclaim, embrace, and live become an invitation for many others. May that surrender to Christ and enter into the family of God and a real saving relationship with King Jesus.