Churchthink W.R. Harris

What most evangelicals mean by the word “gospel” is the following: Jesus lived a perfect life, died the death we deserve, and rose again so anyone who trusts in Him will go to heaven. That’s not wrong, but I think what Jesus meant was so much more.

If you’ve been around evangelicalism for long, you’ve probably heard someone say, “That’s what the Bible says.” But is it really a good thing for us to be saying?

If you want to understand any work of literature, you need to understand its historical and cultural context. The Bible is no different. However, American evangelicals hardly discuss the Bible’s context. Put simply, if we did, we’d understand the Bible—and God—better.

Sometimes people in the church demand that others believe a certain way about non-essential issues—so much so that they cause more harm than good.

For churches, building close-knit community should be a bigger priority than growth. Large churches have some benefits, but they are outweighed by the benefits of small churches.

Many American churches focus on growth. While this doesn’t necessarily mean they can’t also have a vibrant community, it makes close-knit community harder. Churches should consider focusing instead on developing a close-knit community, because this will foster better discipleship (and also alleviate America’s loneliness problem).