Steadfast resistance

In typical evangelical fashion, however, Brian Jones in his book, Hell Is Real (But I Hate To Admit It), steadfastly maintains that his reductionistic, shrunken, and little gospel is the gospel by insisting that “Christianity is a religion meant to solve a sin problem. It is not a religion meant to solve all the problems of this world. . . . our ultimate mission is not to make this world a better place to live . . . . Our mission is to give every human being on earth the news that their relationship with God can be restored through Jesus’ death on the cross” (Brian Jones, Hell Is Real (But I Hate To Admit It) (Colorado Springs, CO.: David C. Cook, 2011), 106).

But scripturally and factually, Jesus’ presentation of the gospel was a both/and proposition and not an either/or. Later, and to his credit, Jones admits “it’s never either/or in Scripture” (ibid.) and asks a most pertinent question: “What business is Christianity in?” (Ibid., 107). My answer is: How about Jesus’ nutshell admonition in Matthew 6:33 to put it most succinctly? “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness . . . .” Let’s please note—and according to David Neff, Editor in Chief of Christianity Today magazine—that the Greek word usually translated as “righteousness” in this verse is dikaiosune and can also and “easily mean justice. . . . Unfortunately, the translation righteousness has overtones of personal piety . . . . We need a stronger contrast between these works of piety and what constitutes the essence of the kingdom of God” (David Neff, “Signs of the End Times,” Christianity Today, August 2001, 48).

Sources:

1 A Once-Mighty Faith (future book – est. 2014-2015) by John Noe

2 Hell Is Real (But I Hate To Admit It by Brian Jones