The King Jesus Gospel, by Scot McKinight

In this new book from Scot McKnight he tackles his belief that the modern church has gone on to loose the Gospel Message by going off 'mission' and just focusing on "Personal Salvation." He has a good point. For many people the idea of the Gospel is to lead people to salvation. But then what? They often times just stop there, excited that another soul has been added to The Kingdom. But where is the follow up? Where does discipleship come in to play? What really is the Great Commission? Is it to lead people to personal salvation or is it to teach people to obey 'all' that I have commanded?

I think that McKnight does a good job of hitting on the point that he is trying to drive home. His chart on page 30 sums it up well;

The Members The Decided The Discipled

Where do you fit? What do you think the Gospel pushes? Is the church only about community / membership or does it go beyond that to include leading people to Christ, personal salvation, in other words The Decided. It is McKnights contention that the modern church gets people to be part of the Decided group but then doesn't bother with helping them to become The Discipled.

The Gospel is about the story of Jesus Christ! It is about why the Son of God had to come to earth and take on the form of man and die on a cross and then be resurrected from the dead. It is about atonement, sacrifice, obedience, etc. etc. etc.

Don't let your Gospel message just be, "Everyone needs to hear about Salvation." Make sure your Gospel message is the true message of the Bible, God's word, God's desire. Make sure it includes 'teaching them to obey all that I have commanded.'

There is quite a bit more that McKnight touches on, but this is the basic premise. Be sure the Gospel Message you preach goes beyond Personal Salvation to include discipleship.

Enjoy!