Why Christians Have It. Part 1

What is it?

Part 1

It's been a while since I've written. Having 2 kids in under a year may be part of it. Learning a difficult language may be another part. However, I think the biggest reason is because I have been working through understanding what the gospel is... again.

Looking daily at the gospel is a must for Christians. What is it? Who is it? Why does it change me? How do I feel towards it? Evaluating our belief, or more likely our lack of belief in it for any number of reasons. All of this should be done everyday in the hope that one day we might actually understand it.

Whether you are a person that adores Jesus or not, the gospel is just as important to both types of people. Knowing what "it" is might be difficult to sum up here, but knowing what having "it" does is a little easier.

What it does

Recently I've been inspired by an ex-pastor named Nate Larkin. He's now on my hero board with a few select people. I don't want him to know that though, it would defeat the purpose and he wouldn't care anyway.

Nate quit pastoring about 20 years ago for fear that he would be discovered for the fraud he was. He was a big time sex addict and he was a pastor. He was caught by his wife while looking at porn (and all that's entailed). He apologized and they made up. But, the used condom that she found a little later was harder to explain. She was done with him.

He said that while he was a pastor he was afraid being caught would end his gospel ministry, but getting caught is actually what started it. Why? He learned what the gospel was.

Why would a man rejoice in being caught with hookers when that would jeopardize everything in his life? How can that make a man happy?

Nate said that he had been trying to be the best pastor he could be. He tried so hard to pretend. Nate said that God didn't love that Nate. God didn't make that Nate. The Nate that God made isn't strong and mighty, he is week and needy. I think it's the week and needy part that Nate is most thankful for now. Sound strange? It is. The gospel is very strange.

I want to unwrap the gospel in the next few blogs to clarify what it is. Those of you that I know or knew once, keep an open mind. Stay tolerant (if you are) and take a few steps back and try to understand why "it" can change everything.

Nate's wife would say that in the 30 years of marriage she has been married to two Nates, and that if she could go back she wouldn't change the first 20 because it produced the Nate of the past 10.