Council Grove Christian Church

4/1/26
Servants of God,
“But the biblical Gospel is much bigger …
It is the declaration of the Lordship of Jesus Christ over all of creation.
 Because Christ is Lord of all, preaching the Gospel naturally bleeds into discussions about how His Lordship applies to ethics, society, theology, and philosophy.”
-Michael J. Lilly
 
“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations…”
-Jesus Christ (Matthew 28)
 
For too long the American evangelical church has played the “say yes to Jesus and escape hell” truncated gospel message like a scratchy old vinyl record. It has grown old and weak. It takes neither Jesus or human sin seriously. We ought not be surprised that the lost world has generally stopped respecting us and our sad and shallow gospel. Many of America’s “Christians” are either imposters or badly taught (discipled). The real gospel is like a freight train loaded with truth, an invitation to surrender, and a challenging mandate to recognize Jesus as Lord of all. A gospel with no mandate to receive both the gift of salvation and the responsibility to follow and learn of Jesus is a false gospel. It is what was once coined as “easy believeism”.
 
Maybe this sad, trivial gospel’s failure to bring moral and societal change is the reason so many  Christians seem to have turned to a narrative that elevates physical domination of the world over the spiritual reality of the Kingdom of Christ. How can it be that Christians can be more joyful over American bombs dropping on Iran than grieved over the lack of gospel penetration of the Middle East?
 
The preaching and believing of the gospel bring change to human hearts. Genuine gospel change is change in every endeavor of life—including how we view national foreign policy and the conduct of war. I do not hear many Christians lamenting that because the life-altering gospel of Jesus has not penetrated human hearts those unregenerate hearts wage all sorts of war. The Muslim belief that drives Jihad and the Zionist belief that drives the insanity that Israel must be blessed and exalted no matter what, are both in massive error.
 
I am saddened by American Christians who put forth justifications for the killing of innocents and the violent bullying of all those who disagree with American foreign policy. America, or any other nation, apart from biblical ethics is a nation limited to purely human solutions to problems. The gospel of Christ’s death, burial and resurrection is foolishness to the unregenerate heart. But Christians know better. How sad it is when Christians fall into the trap of thinking that bombs are the primary answer to problems. The gospel argues for a better way.
I am not against our nation defending itself. I know our world is a fallen and often dangerous place. That does not mean that the only solution to every problem is the military hammer.
 
American Christians need to ask where we think hope lies. Is it in going to war in step with an increasingly belligerent Israel against every other nation in the Middle East? Or is it in gospel missions to Israel and every other nation in the Middle East including Iran?
 
There is much I admire and appreciate about President Trump, but I will be honest, I am not sure he knows what he is messing with in this latest war. China and Russia will not stop supporting the Iranian military. India is moving away from us. The terrain and logistical challenges of a prolonged conflict of this nature is daunting. Cutting off oil to much of the world will increase global poverty, create famine and engender increased hatred toward our nation.
 
Do we really believe that destroying electrical power and the desalination facilities in Iran will bring a maniacal regime to its knees? And have we considered that one of our so-called allies is Saudi Arabia who is mightily dependent on desalination for its own water supply? Only a fool thinks Iran will not retaliate by destroying the infrastructure of Israel and many of our allies in the Middle East. Increasing wanton violence, not peace, is likely to be the result of what Trump is threatening to do.
 
The calendar tells us that the church’s annual celebration of the death, burial and glorious resurrection of Jesus the Messiah is upon us. The resurrection clearly brought legitimate hope of life beyond the grave for fallen humans. New life in Christ is not about exerting force on everyone who disagrees with us or who threatens to do us harm. New life demands to be recognized and embraced. There is hope that war can be unnecessary. There is hope that all sorts of people from all ethnicities and geographical locations can be reconciled to God and to one another through Jesus. Christians can and should act like Christ—not battering everyone who disagrees with us, but speaking the truth in love and living like Jesus—bringing a hopeful new humanity about through serious Christian discipleship.
 
I wish you all a blessed celebration of our Lord’s resurrection and I pray you will think and act like Christians in the midst of what can seem like a world gone crazy.
 
Blessings,
Pastor John
Coram  Deo