The Unveiled Gospel
2 Corinthians 4:1-6
When I was getting my Master’s degree, I took a class about prosperity preachers like Joel Osteen. At the end of the course, we had to write a paper about some aspect of the theology of a prosperity preacher of our choosing. I chose Osteen, and in order to understand his theology, I had to watch nearly forty hours of his sermons. Now, I am not willing to say that Osteen has nothing good to say or that his messages all are blatant distortions of the Gospel. In fact, there were a number of sermons after which I did feel uplifted, having been reminded that God does care for me and want the best for me. However, when you listen to enough of Osteen’s sermons, you begin to notice that there is something glaringly absent from his messages and from his theology: sin. I have no doubt that Osteen believes that there is such a thing as sin, but he has little use for mentioning or addressing it in his sermons because it does not fit with his message that God’s main interaction with us is showering us with blessings.
I think this is similar
to what Paul was addressing in his second letter to the Corinthians. As we come
to find out, there are some super apostles who were dazzling the Corinthian
congregation with their eloquence and their teaching. Furthermore, these super
apostles commanded a premium price for their services. When Paul heard about
this, he scoffed, and he accused these super apostles of not being true to the
Gospel. Instead, they were twisting the message in such a way that made it more
appealing, perhaps leaving out such messy things as “sin,” “suffering,” or
certain responsibilities which Christians have. In turn, they made the message
about themselves, thus veiling the heart of the Gospel from the eyes of the believers
and from their own hearts.
By contrast, Paul says
that the true apostles and ministers of the Gospel do no such thing. In fact,
they proclaim the truth of Christ with all of its apparent foolishness and
warts. Sure sin is not a very attractive talking point, telling people that
they have something which separates them from God, but it is the truth. Sure
nobody wants to hear how they might experience affliction or trials for
following Christ on the path which leads toward the cross, but anything less would
be deceptive. Maybe it is uncomfortable and difficult to articulate why and how
a supreme being would take on human flesh and die—maybe the world thinks this
is crazy—but it is precisely this message which is the Good News for the world.
If the world does not want to hear that, if they cannot handle this truth, then
it is because they have allowed themselves to be blinded from the truth. The
glory of God in Jesus Christ and his death on the cross for the sin of the
world is meant to shine forth.
Paul recalls the story of
Moses when he veiled his face after meeting with God on the mountain. The glory
of God had illuminated Moses’ face, and it was too much for the people of
Israel. Instead, Christians who share the Gospel are not meant to veil the
glory of God—the glory of Jesus Christ who died on the cross for the sins of
the world. If others have to avert or cover their eyes because they cannot
handle this message, then so be it. We, however, are meant to shine forth this
message in all of its glory, even those parts which are uncomfortable or which
seem foolish. God was not ashamed of Jesus Christ—in fact, he vindicated him by
raising Jesus from the dead—and neither should we be ashamed. -TL