Gaps in Culture: How the GOSPEL will ALWAYS be the Answer

There are certain things culture tries to answer but will not be able to - love, pain, suffering, purpose - yet the GOSPEL does. I call this “Gaps in Culture”. In fact, culture - or anything in culture - has NO answer compared to the Good News of the GOSPEL. Lets explore this:

Love vs. the GOSPEL.

Culture tries to find love to no avail. Sounds like a downer, but it is reality. In fact, I think the English translation and experience of love in North American culture is lame. I can “love” my shirt, Tim Hortons coffee, my skinny jeans, and my wife in all the same word. Lame…

In fact, some of my friends have defined love as a “dead” word or some far off “fairy-tale unicorn” that doesn’t exists… and I would agree.

WHY?

Because the GOSPEL spells out love so much better than culture. The GOSPEL explains that love is redemptive, unconditional, and purposeful. The GOSPEL love is about transformation and gives humanity the ability to love. No wonder culture has a HUGE gap in love because they have never experienced the GOSPEL in their own way(s)…

Pain vs. the GOSPEL.

“Whatever makes me happy…” Heard this before? Well, culture says that I NEED to be happy. In fact, it is MY right to be happy, at whatever cost. But, lets be honest… happiness is fleeting like a fart in the wind… My happiness will not keep me happy. Perhaps, the desire to be happy has caused many to experience mental sickness/illness - just a thought? With that said, the GOSPEL speaks into this that happiness is NOT the goal but wholeness! Imagine, I don’t need to find myself in my happiness but to find wholeness with the GOSPEL. What a reality!

AND, even in the midst of the pain I experience in life, I can still be whole IN the GOSPEL - this is the power of God.

Suffering vs. the GOSPEL.

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that we live in a broken world where suffering exists… but I AM NOT defined by my brokenness. With that said, I think our culture is great at “identifying” the brokenness within but not great at knowing HOW to define it. The GOSPEL does.

In other words, my brokenness isn’t my identity - the GOSPEL is. AMAZING!

Purpose vs. the GOSPEL.

Working with youth + young adults have shown me how confused and concerned they are when it comes around “purpose”. Purpose, defined by them aka culture, is to DO what makes you happy, to make a difference beyond yourself, and make a living on your passions. Yet, how can you do this IF these things are fleeting? In other words, purpose, wholeness, and making a difference are RESULTS of the GOSPEL, not the gospel within themselves.

In all this, the GOSPEL will ALWAYS reveal the gaps in culture. It is our job - as spiritual leaders - to reveal the GOSPEL in creative way(s) that will attract culture to CHRIST… How do you do this in the gaps of culture in your church, community, city?

Onward!