You - Nooma 015

You are the gospel. The good news is that God has not given up on the world. Church is when people can meet Jesus through the people of Jesus. This is the idea in the newest Nooma study, You.
Rob Bell again does a masterful job of weaving historical events and biblical customs together to broaden our understanding of our faith. Mr. Bell discusses how early Christians took Roman propoganda and switched its meaning (There is no name under heaven by whom men are saved than Ceasar, Jesus).
Mr. Bell compares and contrasts the message of Jesus to the message of Rome. Rome ruled by brute force, Jesus taught to rule by serving. Jesus wants us to make the world a better place through loving acts, not through sheer might. We are to reclaim, restore this world for good, through the power of Jesus.
People would desire to know more about Jesus through seeing his loving service in action through his followers. They would be so curious about why people served and loved and had such joy that they would ask why they had the hope they did. That is the gospel. That is what we do, who we are. Showing the world Jesus through our love and service.
Yes. I do agree, but I feel that it only brings us half way there. It is not the whole story. We are to reclaim the world, we are to restore the world, but we also do have hope that Jesus will come and bring in a new one. That only He can make things right, perfect, good.
I fully agree that for the most part, the church has been focused on Jesus saving us from our sin and the wrath of God. That is good. We need to be focused on that. However, we have forgotten about the loving acts of service and attempting to redeem the world & such. But it is not one or the other. It must be both. We cannot throw one out and hold tightly to the other. We must hold tightly to both.
iTunes has recently put up previews of all the available nooma studies here. I would recommend checking that out.