Letter to friend on the good news

Hi Josh:

I remember as if it were yesterday, how you and I were wrestling with a question which is so basic, yet so profound: What is the good news for the young men in Pedro Camejo?

Do you remember those conversations? Those were heavy days, witnessing so much hopelessness, violent and destructive behavior, "ningun futuro".

We're still living very heavy days; the darkness is very thick, as my recent prayer bulletin testifies. The trilogy of drugs, brujeria (witchcraft) and vengeance seem to rule the day (and night).

Yet, I've recently become a bit of an evangelist (Can you imagine that?). It's almost like I see the good news with an insight and intensity that I've never experienced before. Or maybe it's that the good news has finally hit me as the good news that it is. And I want to share it.

I recently read a book by Miroslav Volf, a Croatian theologian (at Yale) called: FREE OF CHARGE, giving and forgiving in a graceless culture. He's very intellectual, bringing together very deep theological reflections with a very deep spirituality. I read the book somehow knowing that amidst his almost dissecting approach to the divine art of giving and forgiving I would stumble upon a gem tucked into the many profound insights. The book didn't disappoint me. I found the gem. And, perhaps oversimplifying things, as a result, I'm more of an evangelist than I've ever been.

You're probably wondering what the gem is. (I hope you are.)

I'm going to hold you in suspense a bit…

First, think about how you've always heard the gospel preached. The forgiveness of God is offered more or less like this: "If you repent, God will forgive you."

What I'm going to share will force you to go back to all those NT verses and re-read them to see if this is, in fact, true or not. And the amazing thing is that it is true.

The message that I'm so animated to tell the young men of Pedro Camejo (people who know they are bad; that they've done awful things like murder, etc.) is NOT that "if they repent, God will forgive them". The good news I want to tell them is: "Your sins are forgiven". The gift of a clean slate has been made, now repent and receive his gift.

I love announcing / proclaiming what God has done. "Your sins are forgiven" lets them know that they don't have to end in judgment and condemnation; the removing of all the sins and evil of all humanity has been done in Christ. This God's gift, that must be received. The young men are ignorant, they don't know God's gift, that it's their for them to take hold of.

"if you repent, God will forgive you" puts the weight of things on the shoulders of the human. It creates insecurity, it becomes, "if I repent, maybe God will forgive me." Or it becomes, "if I repent correctly, then God will forgive me."

Jesus proclaimed to the paralytic: "Your sins are forgiven". Punto final (period). The traditional message emphasizes: You're the problem. And if you're lucky God will forgive you. This new angle I've discovered emphasizes God and what God's done for sinners. It forces people to encounter a God who would do such a wild thing as forgiving them, whether they repent or not.

We're praying that CHINO and CALIMERO can receive this message of hope BEFORE they receive a bullet of death.

The theological corrollary to this insight is the NT emphasis (from Isaiah 53) that Jesus has taken away the sin of the world. If God has taken away the sin of CHINO and CALIMERO (freeing them from condemnation and judgment), then they need to know that, so that they can receive tal regalo (such a gift).

I realize that there's a lot more to the good news. I'm not saying this is the totality of what the good news is. But in this context, of youth delinquent murderers and witches and revenge-driven decent people, this aspect of the good news packs a punch, and it is truly good news.

It seems like everyday (though I know it can't be that often) I get opportunities to share the good news like this with people.

Anyway, that's enough rambling. Let me know if this makes sense. Maybe this is nothing new or different for you guys. I'm curious. Does this kind of a presentation sound very traditional or does it hit you as different? (I don't necessarily have perspective from where I am. Have I become a heretic?)

Can you guys give me your feedback? Thoughts? Reflections?

Standing in the gap with you all,
John in Venezuela