Journal: Bibliotheca Sacra
Volume: BSAC 177:707 (Jul 2020)
Article: The Table Briefing: Sharing The Whole Gospel
Author: Darrell L. Bock

BSac 177:707 (July-September 2020) p. 351

The Table Briefing:
Sharing The Whole Gospel

Darrell L. Bock

and
Mikel Del Rosario

Darrell L. Bock is Senior Research Professor in New Testament Studies and Executive Director for Cultural Engagement at Dallas Theological Seminary in Dallas, Texas. Mikel Del Rosario is a doctoral student in New Testament Studies, Project Manager for Cultural Engagement at Dallas Theological Seminary, and Adjunct Professor of Christian Apologetics and World Religion at William Jessup University, Rocklin, California.

On an episode of the Table Podcast called “Engaging with Millennials,” Q founder and author of The Next Christians Gabe Lyons observes, “When you look at all the conversions from the Second Great Awakening until now, [you find that] we had huge conversion growth . . . up until the early ’80s. That’s when the percentage started to drop off [and the] cultural influence [of the church] declined.” He suggests a problem with one way that the gospel has been expressed over the last thirty years: “We’ve left off what I would call the bookends of this full story.” While virtually every evangelical church recognizes the importance of sharing the gospel, recent messaging has tended to focus on only half of the gospel story. A variety of experts interviewed on the Table Podcast have touched on this idea, not only in conversations about ministering to millennials, but also on episodes about truth and beauty, sexuality and identity, as well as the story of Creation.

This briefing highlights ideas from conversations with Lyons, with Saint Jude Oak Cliff resident theologian Nika Spaulding, with Centre for Public Christianity founder John Dickson, and with Moody Bible Institute professor-at-large in biblical studies Christopher Yuan. First, while the “partial gospel” begins in a negative place, the “whole gospel” begins in a positive place. Second, the whole gospel is designed to take us to redemption and lead us to reconciliation.

BSac 177:707 (July-September 2020) p. 352

The Partial Gospel Begins In A Negative Place

Some Christians become discouraged when sharing their faith because they perceive that more and more people seem to be immediately closed to the gospel message. However, many inadvertently begin spiritual conversations by essentially telling the person, “First, you are sinner and you need to be fixed.” This has been called the “Fall-Redemption Story” or the “Two-Chapter Gospel.” Here the gospel story starts in Genesis 3 rather than in Genesis 1. This approach begins with the idea that “you’re a sinner and need to be forgiven by a...