St. John Studies

In part two of The Explicit Gospel, Matt Chandler continues to be concerned about the “cosmos”, the “air” so to speak.  We have commented on his thoughts about creation from a “big picture” point of view* and now we are ready to discuss the fall of man from a “cosmic” view.  If we were writing about the “gospel on the ground” we would be looking at personal salvation, the everyday battle of the mind to avoid sin [what we refer to as mistakes, moral slip-ups and breaking the rules].  Everyone knows that this it is an “everyday battle.”  None of us goes through a day “sin-free.” 

Yes, we know we are frail human beings prone to inconsistent behavior, prone to failure.  “For all have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God” [Romans 3: 23].  Look (really look) at Romans 3: 23, focusing on the word “all.”  That’s “cosmic.”  We need grace: “sin of the past: forgiven. My current struggles: covered.  My future failures paid in full but the marvelous, infinite, matchless grace found in the atoning work of the cross of Jesus Christ.” [Matt Chandler].  Thanks to Jesus Christ, life is not about becoming a flawless human being, but about transformation into a better human being (not perfection).

Why is it this way?  Answering this question is what Chapter 6 of The Explicit Gospel is all about: Genesis 3, the fall of man.  Of course, the story is based on the plight of Adam and Eve, who had the “perfect” life in the Garden of Eden.  God created the universe and put them in charge and everything worked very well.  Adam and Eve were good stewards, cultivating the Garden, harvesting the best fruit from it and having to work very little [in fact, work was not a problem; it was a pleasure].  Then the temptation to sin entered the picture [in the form of the serpent].  Instead of believing God and maintaining a distance from the forbidden fruit [God’s command], Eve and Adam decided to believe the serpent who said it was ok to eat it.  They ate the fruit [to challenge the power of God’s word and achieve God-like autonomy].

Since he intends to be “cosmic” Chandler wants us to understand that the fall is a major event that permeates the whole world.  Eating forbidden fruit is not just ingesting something harmful, it is open revolt against God.  Listening to the serpent is not simple disobedience, it is a desire on the part of man to self-define [when God had already given man a role].  The whole act of eating the fruit is saying to God we don’t want to live by Your rules, Your authority; we want to make up the rules ourselves 

What is Chandler trying to communicate with this discussion?  We tend to minimize this Genesis event or at least make it personal and Chandler says it is not.  When Jesus goes to the cross, he goes for us all.  His self-sacrifice is an example for all of us.  In other words, we make the cross “small.”  Sin is just “bad behavior” and Jesus is just a “moral example.”   

Chandler cites Romans 1 as the “anchor” of his message.  Sin is a glory exchange, trading the glory of God for the glory of self.  Humanity’s problem is not rule-breaking; it is diminishing God’s glory.  What should humanity do?  Paul is very clear about mankind “For although they knew God they neither glorified Him as God nor gave thanks for Him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened” [1:21].

Again, what should humanity do?

Give God the glory.**

*see posts on July 22, August 13, 19 and 24^th

**more discussion on the “cosmic” fall to follow

The true nature of human beings is selfishness.

It bothers me to write that and I look for evidence that the statement is false every day.  I want people to be selfless, looking out for others, sacrificing their own wants and needs to help those less fortunate.  I think Matt Chandler is looking for that too.*  He knows that is a cornerstone of Jesus’ teaching:  “I was hungry and you gave me something to eat… I was a stranger and you invited me in…” (Matthew 25:35–36), “It is more blessed to give than to receive.” (Acts 20:35). 

This selfless attitude is part of what Chandler discusses  in the part of his book labeled the “gospel in the air.”  Christians are distracted from the wider, more cosmic message of the Gospel by their own religious experience.  The “gospel on the ground” is the individual’s experience, but what is that experience supposed to produce?

Fruit. 

The big question is this: is the present life you are leading a growing life, a life dedicated to doing God’s work on this earth or are your present actions overshadowed by your past?  I was saved.  I believed.  I felt Jesus.  [notice the past tense].  That is the point of the section of The Explicit Gospel entitled “How the Present Shadows the Past.”

Living with God is not merely a past event, it is a present reality.  For example in the context of his chapter on creation, Chandler is concerned with the fall of man.  That is a cosmic concern, not an individual concern.  He cites the first murder (Cain’s killing of his brother Abel).  This is a colossal event that introduced a heinous act into reality but Cain does not see it that way.  When he says to God “Am I my brother’s keeper?” he is stating that my action is mine alone.  I am not responsible for Abel (even though his actions ended his life).  Chandler points to the Ten Commandments and how so many of them assist us in relating to others.  The cosmic concern is that we should be reconciled to God and we should take steps to reconcile ourselves to others.  Jesus’ miracles are cosmic signs of His efforts to make things right.  He comes into a world that is broken and his “gospel of the kingdom” is all about restoration, not individual salvations of individual people (even though, of course, that happened).

Where is the problem for people who seek Jesus in their lives everyday?

They are “stuck” in the past.

They are not doing anything with their faith except holding it, trying to provide the veneer that will make them acceptable at church and with their Christian friends.  They are not using it.  Holding faith and not using faith is a recipe for spiritual decay.  Sins can hang around and undermine a relationship with God.  What should happen over time?  Sins should be less desirable, and with prayer and God’s help, they should be less present.  The love of God will eventually overpower the pleasure of the sin.  The world is full of things that distract and held faith does not do much to battle that problem.  Consumerism is a big idea but it plays out in everyday life as we spend money on things we do not need, accumulate debt that hampers our lives and worship things we own instead of our Father God.  We live in a consumer culture.  It is a message that is delivered to us every day of our lives.  If we are real “children of God” we will show it in the activities of our day (less consumerism, more sharing).

The true identity of a Christian is revealed by fruit.  Jesus said “You will know them by their fruit” [Matthew 7:16].    “A good tree will bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit” [Matthew 7:18].  Christians will struggle and stumble and make horrible decisions over time but the trajectory of our lives over time will show more Christlikeness, increasing obedience and increasing love.

Maybe I am getting on the “ground” too much.  Chandler is discussing the “Gospel in the air.”  Individuals should experience the fruit.  Others should see the fruit but the wide-angle view of this is that Christian behavior is part of the God’s plan to restore mankind, “restore ‘all things’ for mankind’s enjoyment, Christ’s lordship and his triune self’s glory” [Chandler, 107].

I am saved.  I believe.  I feel Jesus. 

Not past.

Present.

*comments on his book The Explicit Gospel.

“So whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.”  The Apostle Paul in First Corinthians 10:31.

After wrestling with creation in the first part of Chapter 5 and taking on the world of science, Matt Chandler is ready to give God the glory He deserves. 

For years I have heard this expression uttered from the pulpit and expressed by Christians in conversation.  Usually it is expressed in an exclamatory way: “Give Him the Glory!”  

I love those words but what do they really mean?  Sometimes I don’t think Christians know and I really doubt that unbelievers have a clue.  Why does Chandler follow up a discussion of creation with a discussion of “The primacy of God’s Glory?”  Because as believers, we forget God created it all.

But why did God create the universe?  Wow, that’s a tough question.  Chandler feels that it was done so we can marvel at His creation and worship Him.  “God created everything, and what He created was good…that we might be driven to worship Him” [102].  “The goodness of creation is designed not to declare itself but to act as a signpost pointing heavenward” [103].

God did not create the world and its inhabitants because He had to.  God was not lonely and felt a need for a man and a woman to keep Him company.  Loneliness is a human concept.

Let’s look at another human trait.  We have this innate desire to look at something beyond ourselves and desire it, love it and work hard to consume it.  The main point here is what are we looking at?  Is it a sports star, a celebrity, a uber rich corporation owner?  Is it a large home, a fancy expensive sports car or a luxury vacation flyer? 

Let me get personal.  God has created the two acres that I own [legally own (I have a deed)].  Those two acres occupy a lot of my time as I mow, landscape, work to make the outside of my home look as nice as I can make it.  I forget that they are really not my two acres.  They belong to God.  I just hold them for a few years and work on them because I want to be a good steward of God’s gift.  What will happen to those two acres eventually?  They will be passed on to someone else who hopefully will be a good steward of the acres.  What is happening to my feelings about the two acres now?   Sometimes I forget who really owns them and I devote too much time and energy to maintaining them because I think they are mine and they reflect on me.    Sometimes they become my God.  I know the next words I write will be a major “turn-off” to some but sometimes my acres become my idol.

Chandler references Tim Keller [the pastor and author] who says an idol is anything you look at and say if “I have that, my life has meaning now.  I have value because of this, and I feel significant and secure.”

In essence we worship acres, cars, other people etc. but in the hustle and bustle of life, we forget to worship God, the creator of it all.  Why did God create the universe and all that is in it?  So we would give Him our attention and worship Him as our God.  When God created the world He displayed His worth, His beauty and His power.  He intended forus to worship him.

When I focus on my “things” and forget where they have come from, I am doing what Chandler calls “misdirected” worship.  I am denying God the glory that He deserves or the worship which I should give Him. We focus on consuming things that we think we need.  We want to feel important or look significant to others in the world. 

Chandler makes all this even more personal by referring to our food.  Most of us do not have to worry about the next meal.  I know in my home we never lack for food.  Our main anxiety is what do I want to make with our food?  What are my taste buds trying to communicate to me?  For people like us, we can eat three meals a day, when many in the rest of the world don’t have that luxury.  So what do we do?  We thoughtlessly consume our food with little consideration about where it came from and how easy it was for us to buy.  Chandler writes, we need to quit using the little prayer “Thank you God; bless this food” and start really “dialing in” and saying “Thank you God, that you provide this, that you  provide this in a way that requires very little effort or strain on my part, and that you could take it away any second but haven’t.” 

That is gratitude, that is honoring God with a humble heart, that is acknowledging God’s greatness in providing for us.

So what is “giving God the glory?”  It is expressing the vital role God plays in all our lives all the time.  It is thanking Him for His care for us.  It is living a life that reflects positively on Him [not taking credit for ourselves] but giving God the glory when we do something right.  It is worship of a God who created us for worship and expects us to worship Him.  It means putting ourselves aside and putting God first in our lives, thanking Him for creation. 

I had a pastor who exemplified this idea.  She lost her mother a few years ago and instead of asking another pastor to preach her mother’s funeral, she did it and she did it beautifully.  As I sat in the pew, I listened to her words and watched her behavior and was amazed at her composure.  This was a difficult time for her.  She was very close to her Mom and now she was gone to be with God.  My pastor was grieving but she honored her Mother that day with the most precious funeral I have ever heard a pastor preach. 

Afterward I had a private minute with her as we were headed to our cars in the parking lot and I asked her “How did you do that?”

She said four words which summarize what this post is all about.

“It was not me.”

Ok here is one of my “pet peeves.” People who present ideas out of context.

This is clearly illustrated with the use of video images.  We see people doing things on video but we don’t see what happened before they act and we won’t see happened after their action.  All we see is what is presented by the editor of the video and that is [of course] not the whole story.  However, that is what is intended when people present ideas out of context.  The point is to make an individual look a certain way so the “proper” image can be created.  But the problem is, that image is often not accurate.  It is “out of context.”

Matt Chandler feels that way about Christians and their faith.  He thinks too many Christians focus on their specific, individual experience of God and they don’t understand the “larger context” [the complete picture].  It is ok to feel close to God, to feel that God is your “best friend.”  But God is much more than that; He is the all-knowing, ever present, all powerful God of the universe, the God of beginnings and the God of endings.  The “best friend” God is what Chandler calls the God of “the Gospel on the ground” but the God of the universe is what he calls the God of “the Gospel in the air.”  Chandler insists that the Gospel is held together in both dimensions.  “The personal story and the cosmic story are two halves of one whole.”

Chandler chooses to begin his discussion with Chapter Five “Creation”. 

That is a huge task which makes him have to discuss creation science and evolution.  His book, The Explicit Gospel  is broken into small chunks, which makes it easier for me to comment on his ideas but this section (as you would imagine) is the longest and most “dense” mentally.

It makes sense to focus on creation because that is where we all begin and Christians believe God had a hand in it [A BIG HAND].  The world did not just begin; it had to have a starting point.  Chandler spends many pages discussing the various views of people who have thoughts about creation and labels himself a “historic creationist.”  “Historic creationists absolutely believe that after you get past verses 1 and 2, we are seeing literal twenty-four-hour days, as God grooms a section of land that was uninhabitable (“formless and void”) and prepares it for Adam and Eve and places them in the garden and gives them a mandate, ‘Go and make the rest of the world look like this.  You’re going to need a lot of help.  Have a lot of babies.’ ”

Not only does Chandler evaluate other views of creation but he evaluates the  onward march of “science.”  Science is not static because science is based on the proving of a hypothesis.  What is proven empirically is considered fact and that makes it real.  His main point is this: does scientific fact ever change?  It does, as hypotheses are confirmed or debunked.  That is the onward march. 

Chandler does not seem to have much faith in the scientific method.  Data is collected and that data is used to prove a hypothesis (or not).  Reality (according to science) is changing as we learn more.  Scientists tell us to drink three cups of coffee because it is good for our heart and then ten years later the scientific consensus is that one cup is enough and we should stop [now coffee is hard on the heart].  New hypotheses have been proven.

This section of his book is complex as Chandler seeks to show the reader that individuals who think they know how the world began only know what they know as far as science can carry them and science can carry them only so far.  After his discussion of creation and science he boils his ideas down to what we do have in the Bible: we have God proclaiming the start of the world and to be honest, God is more interested in declaring than explaining.  In the creation of the world the Bible is more historical than revelational: more interested in telling us what happened and why than it is or how it all happened.

One can read the first section of Chapter Five and begin to understand how Chandler came to be a historic creationist.  One can read the first section of Chapter Five and see Chandler cast doubt on science. 

The point he is trying to make is that man did not just get plonked down on earth one day and eventually man thrived.  It is important to wrestle with these ideas and he does.  It is also important for Christians who focus on their “gospel on the ground” experience with God to realize He placed us in the middle of the world in His image, to cultivate the world, to be its stewards and to expand God’s creative goodness. 

We have a larger mission here on earth than just to learn how to work with our own individual sins and do what God intends us to do to bear fruit in our own little circle of people.

Chandler’s point is the Gospel is bigger than the moment you trusted Christ. 

It is the story of the world.

That’s our context.

We all have a “perspective.”  Social psychologists say our perspective is based on perception, the process of taking in sensory stimuli and organizing it mentally into something that makes sense to us.  It could be collection of sights, sounds, smells etc., the human senses detect some type of stimulation.  Other factors are thrown in like past experience, cultural expectations, motivation, education etc.  The main point here is that this is a “grounded” view of the world.  We all have a perspective that is unique to us, based on how we “see” the world.  Actually, when one considers all of our factors of perception, no two of us take in information exactly the same.

Have you ever glimpsed the world from a “big picture” point of view?  Visionary people have that gift; they see reality as what it could be, not what it is.  They dream big dreams, connecting ideas together to create something that is larger than life.  In a like manner, I began to understand the Bible better when I finally was able to zoom out to “30,000 feet”*  Instead of seeing the sixty-six books of The Bible that sometimes seem disconnected, the Bible can be seen as a story of the creation, the fall, redemption and restoration.  Some would say this is the opposite of a unique “grounded” perspective, more of a shad point of view, a big explanation that provides a context for our uniqueness.

Chandler writes part two of his book entitling it “The Gospel in the Air.”  Part one was “The Gospel on the Ground.”  He presumes in part two that he will zoom out to the grand drama of The Bible.  Instead of    individua responses to God [whatever they may be], the focus is on a “wide angle view” of Scripture.

As I begin to comment on Chapter 5, “Creation”, I want to emphasize that having a vision is important.  Knowing why things are the way they are is what I call significant knowledge.  Having the ability to extract larger meanings about the particular things that happen to us is valuable.  Many of us have conversion experiences and often they seem so individualistic, but if we could just lift our eyes to the “Gospel in the Air” level, these occurrences are part of a much bigger picture.  Small stories are part of a bigger story, the story of God renewing creation, one person at a time.  Indeed, God wants to reclaim His world and He is doing that one person at a time. 

Too often we are content with the “small picture.”  It is less taxing on the brain, much easier to comprehend.  If we think we understand the small picture, we feel confident and our individual experience seems very important [maybe unrealistically important].  However, when it comes to harrowing, depressing, even traumatic events, the “small picture” can be damaging, causing us to think we are the only one going through our experience, when in fact we are not. 

What I am saying is context is important.  Without it, we can be lost in an ocean of details, swamped by particular events.  With context, we can have a deeper understanding of what “it all” means.  I know there are ideas much bigger than mine, ideas that help me understand it all.

It is time to experience those.  It is time to go to…

“The Gospel in the Air”

*My apologies to Pastor Skip Heitzig who has a book called The Bible from 30,000 Feet Up.

Matt Chandler is one of the most influential and powerful voices in the American evangelical church.  He pastors a “megachurch” in Dallas/Fort Worth Texas called The Village Church, a church that is so large that it could be a good-sized town [not a village–it has 6,000 members!].

I write this to say that his voice matters to a lot of people.  In his book The Explicit Gospel he says that Christians need to have a strong Bible-based faith.  His desire is he wants to guard the purity of the Gospel so they can have what he calls a “genuine Biblical response.”  He feels that many Christians in our American culture today are “getting it wrong.”

I have been blogging on The Explicit Gospel since March 24, 2025 and in the midst of my writing, I decided I was not doing good work so I stopped writing on September 18, 2025 and began a “do-over.”  I have never done that before but I knew my posts were “half-hearted.”  Since October 22, 2025 I have rewritten each response to each section of Chandler’s book.  If you follow this blog (of course) you know this.  I am much happier with the quality of my comments and my stress level is more manageable at this point in my life.  I love writing on good books and this is a good one, a conservative one, but a good one.  At the end of part 1 of his book, it is time to take stock of the work so far. 

Not everyone loves Matt Chandler.  He has his detractors. He gets criticized for taking complex issues and making them simple.  He is an unabashed Calvinist and that also draws criticism from non-reformed evangelicals.  At times his ideas get very accusatory, confronting the reader with a heavy emphasis on sin and [to be honest] many people do not want to be confronted directly with their sins. 

My writing also needs to be critiqued.  I admit that it has been sporadic at times.  I try to honestly represent Chandler’s ideas by explaining them in my own terms with my own “spin.”  I have been setting a goal of three blog posts per month and I fell short in October 2025 when I was primary caregiver for my Mom.  She developed sepsis in October and eventually lost much of her cognitive ability.  October through January 2026 was a period devoted to hospitalization for her, rehab [unsuccessful rehab] and then admittance into a nursing home.  Mom has been one mile from my home [in assisted living] for the past three years and watching her deteriorate with dementia has been hard.  I have tried to care for her but at times I felt like I was making countless mistakes [I did try but I did not know what I was doing].  Now she is close to my brother and he is her caregiver but she is sixty miles away.  Having to go to a nursing home is difficult but thank God Mom is not aware where she is.  That is important because when Mom had her faculties she was always adamant: “Don’t send me to a nursing home”.   I feel less stress because the staff meets her needs and they are good people.  In May, I fell short [one blog post] because I was involved too much with the two acres that I own with my wife.  I am a gardener and landscaper and I just got too busy.  I had a chance to do things I have not had to do since caring for Mom and I put those things over St. John Studies.

It is also time to take stock of where we are in The Explicit Gospel.  We are at the end of Chapter 4, the last chapter of “Part 1” of the book, what Chandler calls “The Gospel on the Ground.”  Let’s remind ourselves what he means by “Gospel on the Ground.”  This concept means a person’s personal response to the Gospel, how the good news of Jesus Christ impacts human beings on this earth today.  Of course, I have completed my comments on Chapter One [“God”] where the focus was on the Almighty Father who created us all and we should reflect His glory and enjoy him.  Chapter Two [“Man”] who has a problem with sin; we are fallen and Chandler details how we reject God and worship things.  Chapter Three [“Christ”] who steps into our place, absorbs the wrath of God that we deserve and His grace gives us an opportunity at more righteous living.  Chapter 4 [“Response”] is about how we should respond to God and the sacrifice of His Son Jesus. 

Here is the short version of the past five blog posts.  Chandler thinks today’s Christians don’t respond to the Gospel message very well.  We try to leverage our position with God with the good works that we perform.  We should soften our heart to the Lord’s message but we don’t sometimes.  He asks too much and we harden our hearts and go our own way.  We are all sinners and God calls us to repent but many today do not want to do that.  Instead, we put on a “righteous show” for the world so we can look Christian.  American cultural influence is too prevalent in the church as we attempt to adjust the Gospel to something that is more “palatable, therapeutic and moralistic.”  Chandler feels that when we adjust the Gospel, it loses its power.  The last section deals with human actions, human performance.  Churches should not preach steps to salvation; churches should preach the work of Jesus Christ and how our response should be transformative.  If churches would do that, the focus would be on Jesus, not on us.

The main question that Chandler wants the reader to experience is this: “How am I responding to the good news of Jesus Christ?”  He cites the worshipper who is stirred up, willing to share the Word with others, submitting their life fully to Jesus.  Don’t “go to church, read your Bible, say prayers, do good deeds and read books like The Explicit Gospel through anything but faith in the Lord”.  So many Christians know the language of the Christian life but they are not living the Christian life.  They are pretending. 

Chandler does not “pull” his punches.  He writes “Some of you are so good that you have deceived yourselves.  God help you” [85].  The book of Mark has Jesus saying to his followers, delivering a message similar to Chandler’s “Pay attention to what you hear; the measure you give will be the measure you get, and still more will be given you.  For those who have, more will be given; and from those who have nothing even what they have will be taken away” [4: 23-25].  Too many people sit in church [paraphrasing Mark] they look but they don’t perceive and they listen but they don’t understand and they will not be forgiven. 

Yes, some are sitting in The Village Church, Chandler’s own church “hearing but not hearing, seeing but not perceiving” [84].  “Tons of people” Chandler says… not listening to their pastor who is just trying to protect the Gospel, protect his believers and promote true faith.

I was raised in a Disciples of Christ Church, sometimes referred to simply as The Christian Church.  As lots of church members do, I took my church for granted, thinking that church-going just meant one hour in Sunday school and one hour in worship.  As I got older and began to have questions about church doctrine, I began to realize that my original home church had a social and missional focus for a doctrinal foundation.  Disciples emphasize justice, community, and service.  Education is important, along with racial reconciliation, disaster relief and global mission work.  Interpretation of scripture was what I would call “open.”   The Disciples of Christ church teaches that Scripture is authoritative, but Disciples do not impose a single required interpretation on readers of the Bible. Instead, they emphasize freedom of interpretation, contextual study, and unity rather than doctrinal uniformity. *  All this is fine, but if I would have to label my Disciples Church background, I would have to call it “liberal.”

I write all this to illustrate that this approach to Scripture is not how Matt Chandler thinks Christians should respond to the Gospel.**  This social gospel approach is not what he refers to as “Gospel on the ground.”  Chandler is interested in the individual level on salvation, what the Gospel means for me, my sin, my rescue and my new life in Christ.  What’s the problem with the social gospel approach?  It can all about works and to be frank, people can get all caught up in works and forget why they are doing the work. 

Let me illustrate.  I was once a member of a community of like-minded Christians who devoted two weekends a year discipling new “converts” [or should I say potential converts].  I went on a weekend retreat with these Christians and I was ready to learn about Jesus.  I literally soaked up every word that was spoken and every behavior that was exhibited.  I wanted what they had and I was excited to be there with them.  Chandler might say I was having a “Gospel on the ground” experience.  I completed my weekend and went back “into the world” with my new excitement for Christ and I was fortunate.  I have maintained my love for Jesus over the years.  

I was invited to go on weekends as a leader [or “walks” as they are called] and I accepted.  I was just as excited to share my experience with others as I was excited to receive it on my original walk.  The problem came when I saw the “behind the scenes” stuff.  Instead of knowing the important work they were doing, some of the more mature Christians were just enjoying having the weekend away from home and their normal routine.  The efforts that they put into the walk was just work, not spiritual work, but work (with a lot of fun).  The emphasis was not on the Gospel but on the work.  The more I was invited to participate in this event, I began to see that people seemed to lose their way.  They seemed to think their work was the Gospel.  It’s not.  The Gospel is the stimulus for the work.  Chandler calls this piggybacking the work of the church on the Gospel. 

“The Gospel is just fine without us; it doesn’t need us.  Furthermore, doing that results in preaching the church rather than preaching Christ…. Believing the news that God is holy, that you are a sinner, and Christ has reconciled you to God by His life, death and resurrection is what justifies you.”

Now before I go too far and say that all the work that we do is “dust” let’s put work in its place.  Holy work is “fruit of the spirit” and its not bad.  There are a lot of people who need help in this world, a hot meal, some money, some clean clothes and a roof over their head.  Sometimes the church is the place where they can get help with those things.  “Let’s not throw out the baby with the bath water.”  But the error occurs when the Gospel is lost in all that activity, even when that activity is fruit of the spirit. 

Overdoing good acts at the expense of the Gospel results in activism and activism sometimes does not communicate conversion enough.  It may be right to help those less fortunate, but some theology should be thrown into the mix.   Feeling sorry for those less fortunate is commendable but forgetting that people need to know about the personal sacrifice of Jesus Christ for all of us is a mistake.  This is what Chandler means when he warns that good works can replace the Gospel. 

Now does he go too far?  Maybe…  

The work of the church to help our less fortunate neighbors is what we should be doing, but how do we find that middle ground?  How can we do good work without forgetting why we are doing it?

Maybe turning to Acts and keeping a spiritual focus is the key.  Why did Jesus’ followers live in a community.  The Gospel encouraged that.  Why did they share their possessions with one another.  The Gospel made them people of belief.  Why were they on their mission to spread the word?  The Gospel inspired them to take on that mission.  Why did they begin to see signs and wonders?  It was all the “outworking” of the Gospel.

There is the Gospel and there is the response to the Gospel. 

Chandler says we should “know the difference.”

*Emma Price,  “Who are the Disciples of Christ and What do They Believe?”  Answer The Bible Website accessed on June 22, 2026.

**from his book The Explicit Gospel

“Only the unadjusted Gospel is the empowered Gospel.”

That statement should not be a surprise to any reader of Matt Chandler’s work.  In fact, in Chapter 4 of his book The Explicit Gospel he writes several pages about the “unadjusted Gospel.”

Many feel the American church is in trouble.  One in five Americans attend weekly.  Forty-one percent of Americans attend monthly and three in five never attend church at all.  Statistical analysis yields the following conclusions: 1. American cultural habits have changed: going to church every Sunday is not as important as it once was.  2. There is an ongoing disturbing trend that Americans do not trust institutions anymore [including religious institutions].  3.  Worship services today do not seem connected to people’s lives.*

I know this is vague, general language but my point is this.  What have churches done to counteract these problems?  They have “adjusted” their approach to spreading the Gospel.  Matt Chandler is having none of this.

What does he believe will save the church?  Here it is in a nutshell: “the power of the Gospel is not in the dynamic presentation of the preacher or the winsomeness of the witness….The power of the Gospel is the Spirit’s applying the saving work of Jesus Christ to the heart of a hearer” [77].  He cites Charles Spurgeon the 19th‑century Baptist preacher whose powerful sermons, deep devotion, and vast ministry work made him one of the most influential Christian voices of all time: “You cannot induce them to come; you cannot force them to come by all your thunders, nor can you entice them to come by all your invitations.  They will not come…until the Spirit draws them”.

Yet what do we see happening in the church?  Worship style is changing to the point that church music sounds more like a rock concert.  Church doctrine is adjusted to the point that congregations are moving toward accepting more and more alternative lifestyles [that is done to show the church has a true open door].  More liberal theology is being applied because it is more “palatable.”  Don’t preach about sin and hell because that is negative.  We need to expose the congregation to God’s all-knowing and all-accepting love for everyone.  More conservative congregations are politicizing the Scriptures.  The way to activate a congregation is to get them involved in the give and take of power politics.  It does not matter that the church members are openly supporting people who are not acceptable role models of caring Christian leaders.

Chandler’s response: “Every effort to remake the Christian faith leads to wickedness.  We can’t repaint the faith” [81].

Before you think I am an old “fuddy duddy” set in my ways, resistant to change, and a bit behind the times, I have attended many different types of worship services and I know that different people prefer different types of things.  I don’t care if the spirit moves a person during a praise-music worship song and I also don’t care if a person feels God in a quiet, reserved service that is formal and reverent.  Whatever works for someone is ok for them.  I don’t judge.  The problem occurs when a church makes changes just to get “butts in the pews.”  Church is changed from the inside out just to get a response from anyone who is resistant to God’s message.  The spirit is not moving within someone to get them to come to church.  The gimmick is what is getting them in the church doors.  Some would say, “who cares, as long as they get to church.”  I do understand that; maybe the gimmick gets them in and the spirit moves them after they are there. 

Maybe Chandler is a “fuddy duddy,” as he cites the dilemma of Peter, preaching the Gospel in Acts to people gathered in Jerusalem.  Peter knows he will be preaching to Jews and what is he going to do with the information that they were the ones who killed Jesus?   Is he just going to ignore the “elephant in the room” or is he going to address this issue head-on.  He addressed the idea directly and let the Holy Spirit do its work.  “You killed Him.  You crucified Him.  They were cut to the heart.”  The apostles said what are we going to do?  Peter said if they repent, baptize them in the name of Jesus and forgive them of their sins.  They will then receive the Holy Spirit.  And they did experience forgiveness and they did receive the Holy Spirit.

Chandler writes “what saved them?  Their faith.”  No gimmicky action brought about their salvation.  The church had not fed them any message.  They had not been sitting under a teacher for weeks.  There was no church they had been attending every week.  God just opened hearts and minds.  This took the pressure off Peter.  He did not have to construct a “seeker-sensitive sermon.”  He did not have to soften his message to make it more palatable.  It was just the truth delivered to people with open hearts and open minds–opened by God, not some congregational strategy.

Chandler is no fool.  He writes “Some people won’t like hearing this” [referring to the truth].  But some are going to hear this and be saved” [81].  He calls the gimmicks that churches use “relational evangelism” and like me, he is willing to admit that some need that approach to get them in the church doors, but “eventually [you are] going to have to open up your mouth and share the Gospel.  When the pure Gospel is shared, people respond.”  The unadjusted Gospel is the only message that is empowered by God; it is all about the life of Christ, the death of Christ, the resurrection of Christ for the forgiveness of sins and the securing of eternal life. 

In an age when the church is struggling and responding to declining numbers with many reinvention strategies to secure more followers, I find it interesting that Chandler holds to the unvarnished truth of the Gospels.  Telling the truth about Jesus is like a “smart bomb in the hearts of those the Spirit has given eyes to see and ears to hear.”

“The unadjusted Gospel is the empowered Gospel.”

* “Why Church Attendance Is Declining (15 Reasons) + U.S. Statistics (2026)” a blog by Enes Güneş, accessed on 5/31/2026

Several years ago, I discussed a book by Adam Hamilton entitled Seeing Gray in a World of Black and White.  Hamilton took on several tough issues for Christians; abortion, acceptance or non-acceptance of homosexuals, inerrant Scripture etc.  He tried to be even-handed with his comments, positing that the tough issues are not black and white—they are mostly gray.  The author I am discussing now is not Adam Hamilton.  In his book The Explicit Gospel, Matt Chandler likes to quote Matthew 12:30 “Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.”  He states things like “The hearer of the Gospel must move, either toward Christ or away from Him.” [63].  He quotes Pastor Chan Kilgore who says “True Gospel preaching always changes the heart.  It either awakens it or hardens it.”  Sounds like you are either in or you are out.

No gray.

Chandler has already written about the American Christian cultural attitude of works, that many Christians today have “lost their way” by believing God expects us to check all the boxes on our daily faith discipline charts.  That somehow entitles us to be rewarded by God the Father.  He is definite in saying what he expects of Christians, and it is not a list of “works.” 

Also giving your life to Christ is not a one-time event.  It is a commitment to serve God for the rest of your life. Going to church and praising God is not a hobby.  If you don’t submit your life to God and chase after His Son Jesus the rest of your days, forget it; you are wasting your time.  Chandler is not Adam Hamilton: “The religious, moralistic, churchgoing evangelical who has no real intention of seeking God and following Him has not found some sweet spot between radical devotion and wanton sin; he’s found devastation” [70].

This is hard language.  Chandler has high standards.

He continues his response to the Gospel in Chapter 4.  One might think he has skewered today’s legalistic Christian enough in the “Faith versus Works” section of Chapter 4 but he has more to say in “Response and Responsibility.”   The target this time is the hypocritical Christian, the one who hears God’s Word and reads God’s Word, but doesn’t live God’s Word.  They have perfected the veneer of the “believer,” but Christianity for mere appearances is not enough.

To make his point, he focuses on Isaiah 6; the most famous quote is verse 8 “whom shall I send, and who will go for us?  Then I said, Here am I!  Send me.”   Looks good on a t-shirt doesn’t it or maybe it could be of use at the bottom of a Christian’s personal stationary.  The problem with Isaiah 6 is that the quote is excised from the rest of the Scriptural context.  Isaiah is saying to the people that they are not getting the message.  Chapter 6 is not a call for action; it is a criticism of people who have a blind spot in their faith.

I once had a friend who has had one relationship after another, searching for “the perfect man.”  No one seemed to “tick all the boxes.”  As she moved from relationship to relationship she provided excuses for each disappointment but after six failed attempts to “couple,” maybe there is a clear pattern.  The problem is not the men; the common denominator in all of the failed attempts is the woman.  I never heard these words from her: “I have a problem.”   It was always the men.  God tells Isaiah “Here’s your ministry.  Go tell them, keep on hearing but they do not hear.”  In essence, the listeners are only partially aware of the truth.  The right words are being spoken but a common way to express this is, “it is like speaking to a brick wall.” 

So what is Chandler saying about some Christians in the pews?  We are just not getting the message.  In Isaiah 6, the people do not “get it” but the preacher is told to preach on.  Too often the responsibility for the response is placed on the pastor.  Chandler is very clear about that:  the responsibility of responding to God’s Word falls squarely on the shoulders of the people sitting in the pews.  What are pastors responsible for?  They have been given the job of proclaiming God’s Word and of course, they need to do that and they need to be faithful to God.  That is the measure of their success.  But too often it is the number of members in the church building, the number of visitors who come to church, the number of people who come forward to be saved and the number of activities that are broadcast to passersby on the church marquee.  Chandler disagrees. 

The pastor who is faithful to God’s Word and obedient to his calling is just as successful preaching every Sunday to nine people as the pastor who preaches to the mega-church of twenty thousand. 

Let’s put a framework on this discussion.  Do you think that God would be more pleased with nine people who are “all in” or twenty-thousand who are just going through the motions?  Chandler cites the parable of the sower of seeds: Matthew 13.  Where do those seeds land?  Some land on the path, some land in the thorns, some land in the shallow soil and some land in the good soil.  You can determine what this means.  The sower casts a lot of seeds that bear no crop.  The pastor preaches a lot of sermons that are not heard. 

Again, let’s return to the idea of responding.  After all, my comments on this topic are in Chandler’s chapter entitled “Response.”  How should pastors respond to this situation?  Chandler says continue to be faithful and obedient to the calling you have on your life.  Don’t water down your message just to attract more people.  How should church members respond to this situation?  Open your ears to the Word of God and respond with faith in Christ.  Live your life like you are in a kingdom not of this world because devout believers know they are not obedient to a king in this world.  They have a much higher set of standards.

Respond.  Either move toward Christ or away from Him.  Sadly for many, the move toward Christ will never happen. 

Too many sit in the pew but they will never hear.