Apologies, but no results were found.
I got to know Shawn Smucker a few months back when he interviewed me for his blog around the time O Me of Little Faith released. Shawn’s a good guy and a fellow writer (he’s written two books) and he’s in the middle of a year in which he’s not watching TV.
Maybe it’s the lack of stimulus from the TV abstinence, but Shawn’s been exploring some fascinating issues lately on the blog — including one several days ago about how democracy makes being a Christian easy.
Today he asks a big question about John 3:16, which is the one verse almost all Christians know. For many, it’s the be-all, end-all of our faith. It’s the first Bible verse we ever memorized. (Maybe it’s the last one we ever memorized, too.)
NIV: “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
I first memorized this verse in the King James: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
If you ask any Christian to give you the verse in the Bible that best explains the Gospel, they will probably tell you John 3:16. And don’t get me wrong: it is a beautiful verse that tells an amazing story.
…
I don’t think there is anything wrong with the verse, but I think there is something wrong with how we have elevated it above every other verse in the Bible. Do we really believe it’s possible to take one verse and use it to explain something as complex as the line between perishing and eternal life? If one verse can adequately explain that, then why do we have the rest of the Bible?
For many Christians, their spiritual lives are built upon the foundation of John 3:16. It may be the verse that first drew them to God or convinced them of God’s love. It’s a verse about salvation, and about the gift of God. It’s inspiring. But because it emphasizes belief above all else, Shawn suggests, it leaves a lot out, too. It says nothing about a changed life, or about serving the world around us, or about what happens when belief wavers.
John 3:16 emphasizes who’s in and who’s out in terms of “eternal life.” It’s a good barometer verse. Noting this, Shawn asks a provocative question:
What would contemporary Christian culture look like it we rallied around a different verse?
(He suggests John 3:17 — the verse which comes right afterward: “God did not send his Son into the world to condemn it, but to save it.” What if our key verse reminded us not of the necessity of spoken belief, but that it was our job to love rather than judge people?)
I think Shawn has posed a fascinating question, and I’ve been thinking about it since reading his post this morning. So I thought I’d open up the question to you:
Are you satisfied with John 3:16 as the verse in the Bible that best explains the message of the Gospel? If so, why?
If not, what verse (or passage) would you propose take its place?
posted September 8, 2010 at 11:04 am
I always saw this verse as the foundation the gospel rests on. It’s central to the gospel, but not the whole gospel.
//AW
posted September 8, 2010 at 11:04 am
Matthew 22:36-40. Okay, so it’s four verses, but every bit as succinct and pithy as John 3:16.
posted September 8, 2010 at 11:13 am
It’s a good verse, but you’re right, it leaves out a lot. Like what does it mean to believe? There’s plenty of verses that make it clear that belief means ACTION! But then we get into a big mess over saved by grace and whatnot. What if we rallied around Micah 6:8 where we are told that God requires that we do justice, love mercy and walk humbly with Him? That’s actually a lot more descriptive, but it doesn’t make the cut because Jesus didn’t say it.
posted September 8, 2010 at 12:16 pm
using john 3:16 as the be all and end all of christian life troubles me.
if you have ever taught pre-school sunday school you have used the little “story in a box” to teach the bible story…. many, many christians never get beyond the pre-school story in a box or beyond john 3:16 to look at the whole bible.
i wish i could think of an alternate. i do like the idea of using john 3:17 as suggested. you know, i also kind of like the verses after that whole titus 2 woman thing (starting at verse 11)…
“For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope—the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.”
posted September 8, 2010 at 3:18 pm
How about John 11:25? “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies.”
That verse or the passage when Jesus talks about eating his flesh and drinking his blood.
It’s crazy how we make Christianity harder than need be and enforce rules.
posted September 8, 2010 at 4:04 pm
Thanks everyone for your thoughts on this. I’ve been trying to look very deliberately at the things I believe and then track back to which scriptures were used to back up those ideas. I think it’s so important that we don’t just consume the isolated verses and ideas that are presented to us, but that we really dig into the stories and contexts of those scriptures.
If you get a chance read John 3 in its entirety sometime. The story of Nicodemus sneaking up to talk to Jesus at night gives a great setting for that old Sunday School verse.
Thanks again!
posted September 11, 2010 at 7:19 pm
2 Peter 3:9 The Lord is not slow in keeping his word, as he seems to some, but he is waiting in mercy for you, not desiring the destruction of any, but that all may be turned from their evil ways.