Theological Fragments

I introduced the Vocational Gospel through a four-part series that went through Scripture cover-to-cover--literally, from the first chapter of Genesis to the last chapter of Revelation. Now, I want to expand on that introduction by showing individual instances in the Bible where we see the Vocational Gospel explicitly preached or displayed. I'm calling it "The Gospel According To..." Today I want to start with John the Baptist. John was a man of two worlds: he was the last prophet of Israel, and he was the first preacher of the Gospel, before even Jesus. In Matthew 3:2 John begins to preach, "Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand"--which is, word-for-word, exactly how Matthew summarizes Jesus' message in 4:17. John's preaching is our first glimpse of the Good News that accompanies the arrival of the messiah, Jesus. So what does he preach? Well, as we just saw, he preaches repentance. In Luke's account, John's call to repentance is p...

The word "Gospel" comes from an Old English word that means "Good News"--which, of course, is the meaning of the Greek word that "gospel" replaces. When Jesus came to preach his message, it was described as "Good News." So what exactly was that good news? I have preached/taught on this topic many times, and whenever I ask the audience to summarize the Gospel in one verse, they always pick the same one. You know which verse I'm talking about: For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. ​(John 3:16, ESV) In the Western Church, John 3:16 is considered the most important verse in the Bible. It is so central to the message of the Bible that it has become shorthand for the entire Gospel--hence why people write it on signs and in their greasepaint at sporting events. The idea seems to be that if a person got curious enough to look that verse up, they would fin...

[From Part I Chapter I, " Love's Hidden Life and Its Recognizability by Its Fruits "] Each tree is recognized by its own fruit. People do not pick figs from thornbushes, or grapes from briers.  ~Luke 6:44 (NIV) Kierkegaard hard at work in a Copenhagen Cafe "There is no word in human language, not one single one, not the most sacred one, about which we are able to say: If a person uses this word, it is unconditionally demonstrated that there is love in that person. On the contrary, it is even true that a word from one person can convince us that there is love in him, and the opposite word from another can convince us that there is love in him also. It is true that one and the same word can convince us that love abides in the one who said it and does not in the other, who never the less said the same word.    “There is no work, not one single one, not even the best, about which we unconditionally dare to say: The one who does this unconditionally demonstrates ...

[From Part I Chapter I, " Love's Hidden Life and Its Recognizability by Its Fruits "] Each tree is recognized by its own fruit. People do not pick figs from thornbushes, or grapes from briers.  ~Luke 6:44 (NIV) "For every tree is recognized by its OWN fruit. It may well be that there are two fruits which very closely resemble each other; the one is healthful and good-tasting, the other is bitter and poisonous; sometimes, too, the poisonous fruit is good-tasting and the healthful fruit somewhat bitter in taste. In the same way love also is known by its own fruit. If one makes a mistake, it must be either because one does not know the fruit or because one does not know how to discriminate rightly in particular instances. For example, one may make the mistake of calling love that which is really self-love: when one loudly protests that he cannot live without his beloved but will hear nothing about love's task and demand, which is that he deny himself and gi...

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