By J.A. Medders
I remember the first time I got lost using the navigation app on my phone. I put the name of the business in correctly, but it took me about ten blocks away—in the opposite direction from where I needed to go. I’ve since ditched that navigation app, and I’ve been faithful to a different map app ever since. And I think I’m right in ditching apps when they fail me—there are better options out there. But there are no better options when it comes to the gospel.
Paul was amazed that the Galatians were turning from the pure gospel of Christ, turning from Jesus Himself, and turning to a “different gospel.” It’s not like Jesus led them astray. There’s no chance Jesus pointed them ten blocks in the opposite direction. He hadn’t failed them. So why were they installing a different gospel in their lives? Perhaps because they were deceived and pressured into buying into a gospel that’s really no gospel at all.
How often are you tempted to subscribe to a “gospel” that says you only matter to God if you prayed today? Or read your Bible? Do you follow the crushing logic of a belief system that ties your worth to your works, or do you tie it to Jesus’s cross and resurrection? If we aren’t careful, we can take good things—like the spiritual disciplines that guide us toward Jesus—and we can make them into the gospel itself. Bible reading doesn’t level us up in God’s sight, no more than circumcision leveled up the Galatians.
One of the great weapons of false gospels in the Church is peer pressure (Galatians 1:7). Most of us like being liked; we don’t want to make waves and offend others. But if this goes unchecked, it can lead to adopting all kinds of dangerous teachings. Paul wrote that he wasn’t trying to please people first and foremost (v.10). He was Christ’s servant. He was committed to speaking the truth and guarding the good deposit of grace to the Galatians.
If you ever sense someone spreading a distorted gospel, remember who it is you live to please, first and foremost. Correct course in love. Correct course because it matters. And when possible, do not let others be led astray.
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