Tucker Else
Beyond my fear of snakes (and clowns), I have a deep-seated fear that the people entrusted to me (both my children and my Penn students) will hear from me an anti-Gospel of “Do better, try harder…just quit sinning and then everything will be okay!”
The moralism message that most people have heard since they were toddlers (when Mom and Dad would say, “Don’t treat the toilet as a hot-tub ever again!” and we obey in order to win their approval) and which continues as we get older (when the Police Officer says “I got you going 45 in a 25…” and our heart sinks because we know we’ve broken the law and we’ll get a hefty ticket) is one that is often-times equated with the message of faith.
The anti-Gospel is not particularly good news. It says “If you improve your behavior, then God will accept you.”
Both progressive and evangelical churches fall into this trap. For each, there is set of rules you must abide by in order to be acceptable, be it toe-ing the line of sexual mores (whether traditional or contemporary, depending on the camp, wherein you may be labelled a contemporary bigot or the more traditional fornicator), or caring for the least of these (whether taking the stand against abortion or lamenting the failure of contemporary Christians to care for the poverty stricken).
Indeed, the Bible does give direction on what is pleasing to God and his standard for morality. However, telling someone to “Do that!” is not the Gospel.
The Apostle Paul, admonishing the Galatian church, wrote: “I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you by the grace of Christ, for a different gospel.” Translating into modern vernacular we’d read that as “You want to do what? Return the gift and go back to laboring? Are you crazy?!!!”
It is an easy trap to fall into, for there is something empowering about saying “I can lift myself up by my boot-straps.” It is so…well, American! If it is to be, it’s up to me! But here’s the problem: anyone who takes the moral standards of God seriously will see quickly that the law of God exposes our gross failure to live up to such standards.
We are left, then, with a conundrum. “What must I do to be saved?”
{tweetme}The Gospel is something different than moralism. The Bible isn’t a code-book of moralism. Rather, it is the story of God’s salvation of sinful humanity by his grace, as a gift.{/tweetme} The Bible teaches that moralism doesn’t work. Again, the Apostle Paul writes that salvation comes to those who are “justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the Law; since by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified.” [Gal. 2:16].
As R. Albert Mohler writes, “Moralism produces sinners who are (potentially) better behaved. The Gospel of Christ transforms sinners into adopted sons and daughters of God.”
In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus tells a parable of a wedding banquet. In the story, the King invites all to come to the feast.
The King invites me? One Middle Eastern scholar writes this: "The offer is generous and delightful but (thinks the stranger) he cannot possibly mean it. Grace is unbelievable! How could it be true, asks the outsider. For me? What have I ever done for him? I cannot pay it back. The host is not serious! It is a most pleasant prospect, but considering who I am, he cannot mean it!”
Yet the Gospel is genuine—an invitation into the presence of the King based solely on his love. It is free! All because of the One—Jesus—who was perfectly moral for us, in our place.
Turn to him and enjoy the feast!
Tucker Else
Director of Undergraduate Ministry at Penn
Tucker served as a pastor in Iowa for seven years. Prior to that he was a practicing attorney for an international bank (RaboBank). In preparation for pastoral ministry, he earned an MDiv at Covenant Theological Seminary in St. Louis. He received his JD from Drake University.Tucker and his wife, Marchelle, have been married for 21 years. They have four children: Lauren, Tamrick, Brennan, and Kianna. He loves reading, music, sports, and visiting all of Philadelphia's great neighborhoods. He takes delight in discipling students into a deeper love and affection for Jesus Christ.
