I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ.

Galatians 1:6-7 (ESV)

According to the Apostle Paul, a distorted gospel is no gospel at all. It is without power or effect. Worse than that, it borders on heresy and manipulation. The gospel gets distorted when we reshape its message to make it far more about us than about Jesus. It is an old problem as well as a new one. What happened to the Galatians could potentially happen to us if we are not vigilant and watchful.

The gospel is compromised when we over-adapt to our pervading culture of consumerism and materialism. This is when our personal wants and desires, rather than the gospel, becomes our primary focus. That makes us idolaters of ourselves and not worshippers of God. We will lose our prophetic edge because we are not calling for change or challenging the status quo. If our foundation of the Christian life is founded on a consumerist gospel, we will end up making followers of a church rather than disciples of Jesus. This was the context why Paul critiqued the Corinthians for chasing so-called “ecclesiastical celebrities” instead of placing their love and loyalty in Christ.

Jesus is central to the gospel.

Our personal and corporate Christian life are only as robust and healthy as the gospel we believe and proclaim.

A distorted church usually coincides with a distorted gospel. But a church that places its focus on Jesus will thrive and flourish. It might not be measured in numbers, but rather by the quality of character and action of every son and daughter of God. This is because when we completely embrace the gospel and choose to walk in the truth, a distorted worldview gives way to a biblical way of living.

God’s grace delivers us from our captivity,