More Than Just Alright

A great blog post today from my old friend Jim Wright - A Doobie Brothers' Gospel.

Jesus died on the cross because He accepted me, wholly and completely, just as I am…
So I could die to myself in order to accept Him, wholly and completely, just as He is.

By His Grace, He Bids Us Come and Die

This the true Gospel: Accepting me as I am cost Jesus His life, and accepting Him as He is costs me my life in return.

The mystery of the cross is that we die with Him to find new life in Him – but only on His terms.

But He goes on to say:

The Doobie Brothers were a 1970′s rock band (back in my day!) with a string of hits – including one called “Jesus is Just Alright.”

The main refrain in the song is “Jesus is just alright with me”, and presents Jesus as part of some mutual affirmation society.

Many today preach a Doobie Brothers’ Gospel: They seek affirmation in His grace, but not the discipline of His rule.

But does His grace really affirm us by saying we’re OK?

Not really. Confusing grace with affirmation has become a popular, but troubling, perversion of the Gospel.

God’s love and grace are unmerited, meaning He accepts us despite our sin-rooted issues – not that He affirms those issues.

This is a subtle, but important, distinction.

By grace, He accepts us at the foot of the cross – where He calls us to die to our issues as we find new life in Him and submit to His rule and discipline.

By grace He is patient and loving in dealing with our issues, in His timing – but that does not mean He affirms our issues by saying they don’t matter.

Confusing grace with mushy affirmation causes many to neglect the true Gospel, and instead embrace the Doobie Brothers’ Gospel of “I’m OK, you’re OK, and Jesus is OK too.”

Those who do so are easy to spot: They tout a Jesus who invariably conforms to their own sensibilities and affirms their own comfort zones, and demands nothing of them outside of either.

Why have so many reduced the Gospel to so little?

My prayer is that we once again discover that He accepts us through grace at the foot of the cross, where we die to self as we find new life in Him by embracing both His love and His rule.

 Good stuff! BTW -Jim, that's old as in "long term" Not calling you an old man, Brother!