What do you think about the "ABC" version of the gospel?

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Continuing the discussion from How does believing the Gospel save us?:

I can relate. :slight_smile:

Same here. I think it helps to ask, what specifically are you questioning?

I mean, theologically, I agree with it. Hereā€™s how it goes as best I understand:

  • Admit youā€™re a sinner
  • Believe Jesus died and rose again for your sins
  • Confess Jesus as your Lord and Savior

Hereā€™s whatā€™s difficult about it, for me. It was presented as THE ONE TRUE AND ABSOLUTE GOSPEL.

However, I now see that it is a contextualized version of the gospel.

Looking at it from a distance, itā€™s obvious. Instead of presenting everything in the Bible, three sentences were pulled out. Right away, thatā€™s an editorial decision.

Then, the gospel was arranged in an ā€œABCā€ structure - thatā€™s a contextualization to English, a culture that values simplicity, and a pragmatic orientation to communicating information.

It makes a lot of assumptionsā€¦ for instance, that I know what it means to be a sinner. That I have some belief in ā€œGod.ā€ That I want forgiveness.

But what if the starting point to connect with someone is what God says about how they were made in his image?

Then, thatā€™s the new ā€œAā€:

  • Acknowledge that you were made by God with excellence, joy, and purpose.

Thatā€™s Biblical, too, right?

And, depending on who Iā€™m talking to, it might be a better place to start the conversation.

For me, evangelism comes out of an immersion in the Bible, a prayerful concern for people around me, and simply being a good friend, and having honest, genuine conversations. It isnā€™t a sales pitch tweaked to increase my conversion ratio.

I want to emphasize that I think the ā€œABCā€ presentation is Biblical. But what Iā€™m trying to get at is that it is just one of many ā€˜Biblicalā€™ ways to tell the story of who God is and what God is doing.

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