Fifth Sunday after Epiphany
February 8, 2015
1 Corinthians 9:16 – 23
Evangelist Will Nichols goes by the name “The Gospel Gun.” He strides into country – gospel concerts and self – named cowboy churches and draws. He fires at the devil first. And people are healed, left and right. Or so the story goes.
I’ve also heard the words “gospel gun” used to describe an argumentative approach to evangelism that many of us have experienced, and some of us tried. It’s a barrage of proof texts and Christian jargon used to convince someone of the absolute and overwhelming power of the gospel.
From what we know of Paul’s relationship with the Corinthians we might conclude he wished he had a gospel gun when he first strode into Corinth. If only he could have persuaded them beyond question of the truth of the gospel and his authority to proclaim it! They wouldn’t be in so much trouble. They wouldn’t be troubling him. He wouldn’t have to write to them, wait for their reply (More questions! More problems!), and write to them again.
There’s a whiff of gun smoke in some parts of the Corinthian letters that we know about. There was at least one other letter someone deemed too hot to handle and too dangerous to keep. Sometimes his words leave us feeling as if we’re under fire ourselves. Paul doesn’t fire his points of proof as offense, but as defense. In our reading today the word “gospel” rings out five times. The repetition is probably intentional. Paul fires off a round of rhetorical points, all in response to the Corinthians’ salvos.
The word we know as “gospel” means “good news.” Some go on to place the word as Christians used it in its original context, the old Greek translation of the Old Testament. There it means good news of redemption and release. The Greek word was also used as a title for the biographies of famous men, like Caesar Augustus. Christians put that title to their stories of Jesus. Paul came to Corinth to tell of Jesus and to proclaim a salvation to be found in him. His cross was proof of God’s love for the world. His resurrection was proof Jesus was to be believed and followed. It was all about Jesus. The Corinthians made it mostly about Paul.
Paul shot back. It was indeed about him, as he embodied the good news. He offered himself as the ultimate proof that the news was good. He didn’t come at them with the gospel gun blazing. He didn’t come for his own sake, or to become a hero, or to win any battles. He came armed only with a message that wasn’t his own, and a commission from the subject of that message to share it. He came to meet people as and where they were. He crossed barriers of religion, culture and experience.
We’re already convinced that the news is good. We’re good at telling the world what’s good about the gospel, and what’s good for the world. In fact, we’re so good at telling others what’s good for them that many just don’t listen anymore. A whole generation have concluded they already know what we’re going to tell them is good. Mostly, they assume we’ll say “no” to what they believe is good. Mostly we do. What’s the news?
We are. We’re the news of the gospel today. Without our witness to lives transformed and transforming, all our boasting about the goodness of the gospel for the world will fall flat. We have to start by laying down our gospel guns in mutual disarmament within the church. Then, appropriately humbled, we’ll begin to understand that all we have to offer the world for its good, in service of the gospel, is ourselves. After all, God’s love wins every battle.
