Pastor’s Corner: “The Circus Gospel”
Galatians 3:2-4 (MSG) – 2-4 Let me put this question to you: How did your new life begin? Was it by working your heads off to please God? Or was it by responding to God’s Message to you? Are you going to continue this craziness? For only crazy people would think they could complete by their own efforts what was begun by God. If you weren’t smart enough or strong enough to begin it, how do you suppose you could perfect it? Did you go through this whole painful learning process for nothing? It is not yet a total loss, but it certainly will be if you keep this up!
Trying to look at the three rings in a circus simultaneously can be very challenging. Clowns, juggling, musicians, dancers, acrobats, magicians, unicyclists, trapeze artists, tightrope walking and all kinds of animals doing amazing things all at the same time! It is enough to make us dizzy.
For many in the Christian faith, this is what our lives look like. We function like Christianese acrobats. We spend years jumping through hoops of holy hustle, walking tightropes of rigid spiritual discipline and contorting our bodies to fit into the mold of a good Christian. This trapeze-like theology can have us believing that our good works could hoist us into the air, keeping us close to God and in His favor. It is a dizzying way to live…….and totally unscriptural! The result of this type of theology is that behind the scenes, there is a constant crash and burn that leads to a dried-up soul who feels far from the God they wanted to please. Does this sound familiar? Have you ever found yourself stuck in this “Cirque du Soleil” kind of faith?
The Bible shows that we are not the first people to feel like this. In Galatians 3:2-3 Paul asks a soul-searching question to the Galatian church who found themselves trusting in human-made hoops to win God’s affection: “Let me ask you only this: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?” (Galatians 3:2-3)
At this time in history, the Galatian church had heard the true gospel. However, some of the Jewish believers were trying to convince the gentile (non-Jewish) believers that in addition to believing in Christ, they must also live by the Jewish laws. Instead of fully trusting in Christ for salvation, the Jewish believers claimed one must also rely on good works to be accepted by God. Sound familiar? This trapeze-to-please kind of faith is not new. The trouble with this kind of theology is that it proclaims a different gospel than the gospel of Christ. I like to call it the “Circus Gospel.”
This is the Gospel of Christ: Ephesians 2:8-9 (NIV) – For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast. “The Circus Gospel” might acknowledge the work of Jesus on the cross, but ultimately, the pressure is still on us to earn God’s acceptance. The most tempting thing about this false gospel is that we can easily measure our righteousness based on the spiritual boxes we check off. While that might allow us to gloat in the good things we’ve done, it’s also a painful reminder that we will never measure up. This is not the life-giving, soul-freeing gospel Jesus intended.
I read a story of a pastor who learned a valuable lesson from a missionary who had spent 40 years in China. He told her about a struggle he was having, and he never forgot her reply. She said, “you won’t ever be any better than you are, but the Holy Spirit who lives inside you will enable you. You can’t improve your flesh.” Until then, he’d always thought that if he worked hard enough, he would be a better person. It is an eye-opener (and freeing) to realize that our heavenly Father does not want or need our self-efforts. They cannot earn us salvation or enable us to live the Christian life.
Jesus came to proclaim the Gospel of Grace. This gospel hinges on the truth that Christ’s work on the cross makes us right before God. We don’t have to fill our lives with good works to be accepted; instead, our lives are radically changed because we already are accepted! We were never intended to spend our lives swinging from ropes to please a God who has already fully accepted us in Christ. Let’s step off the tightrope and rest in knowing Christ’s work is enough. The gospel of grace is a beautiful reminder that we’re not acrobats juggling our way into God’s Kingdom, but children of God who already have a place at His table.
In His Grace,
Pastor Hamilton