Simply Good News
by N. T. Wright
Simply Good News is simply a good read as it brings into focus aspects of the gospel that have been out of focus in many traditional evangelical circles. The subject has not changed, but rather the depth of field has. In some ways there is nothing new here. What is new, however, is the careful distinction Wright places on good news versus good advice. Good advice is “an option you might like to take up if you feel so inclined…For some, it’s a new kind of spirituality: here is a Jesus-focused interior life for those who want that kind of thing. For others, it’s a new way of living: here is a Jesus-based morality you…might like to follow. For others again, it’s about taking out an option on your future — a kind of retirement plan, except that the retirement in question takes place after your death” (p 19). None of these are entirely wrong, says Wright, but they miss the main point.
Instead, for the gospel message to be good news it must contain 4 elements: “(1) an announcement of an event that has happened; (2) a larger context, a backstory, within which this makes sense; (3) a sudden unveiling of the new future that lies ahead; and (4) a transformation of the present moment, sitting between the event that has happened and the further event that therefore will happen” (p 23). After spending considerable time unpacking the importance of (2) above, the remainder of the book sharpens its sights on (1), (3), and (4). Wright states:
The announcement of what has happened — Jesus’s death and resurrection as the fulfillment of the ancient biblical promises and divine purposes — is matched by the assurance of what will happen in the future, when God is “all in all,” transforming the whole of creation and raising his people into new, transformed, bodily life. And held within those two poles, they learn that the life they now live in the present is to be transformed by its relation to the past and the future. Because Jesus died and was raised, those who belong to him have died and been raised and they must live accordingly. Because God is going to remake the whole world and raise his people from the dead, they must live in the present in accordance with that ultimate promised destiny. Everything will be different (p 32, bold emphasis mine).
What struck me as novel here is the sequence. Rather than lay out the good news as the past, the present, and then the future, Wright insists throughout the book that Scripture focuses on the past, the future, and then the present. Instead of something like: (1) Jesus died for you and rose again; (2) you must now submit to that truth in faith and repentance; (3) and then someday after you die, you will go to heaven, Wright focuses upon the cross (the past event that offers forgiveness for sins), the resurrection (the guarantee of future life with Christ), and only then does that make a difference in how we live our lives in the present.
As I think of the various ways in which the good news is presented in the New Testament, I have to agree. Embracing both the past event of our debt paid (the cross) and the hope of our future life in eternity (the resurrection) naturally results in a transformed life here and now. This sequence foregrounds both the past and the future, and backgrounds the present in such a way that a call for human response to the gospel is the outcome of the good news.
This strikes me as not insignificant. Is the sequence important? Does the sequence in which we present the good news to others suggest where we place the emphasis? What do you think?
I discovered one other important idea that I want to mention. The idea did not strike me as significant on first swipe. It wasn’t until several pages beyond that it hit me how impactful this idea was, so I turned back the pages, re-read, and then pondered for some time. It has to do with the progress of God’s kingdom here on earth. Let me explain.
After stating in undeniable terms that the proposal of any social gospel is misguided (whereby God’s kingdom is brought about by our own efforts apart from God’s help), Wright clarifies that we must “work for God’s kingdom, to produce advance signs of his saving rule, his holiness, his justice, his joy, his celebration of every good thing…because we stand on the ground of the resurrection, believing that the forces of darkness have been put in their place” (p 117). Of course the Christian Church has always understood its mission in these terms; that its works are its witness and vice versa. However, these terms need to be set in the greater context of the biblical storyline, which turn on five propositions that, incidentally, sum up Wright’s entire book. They are: (1) “the lordship of the risen Jesus…means that real and lasting change is possible at personal, social, cultural, national, and global levels.” Second that “real and lasting change is costly.” Third “real and lasting change in everything from personal to global life is always sporadic.” Fourth, “there is an equal and opposite danger that Christians…will retreat once more into the gloom and negativity” and fifth, “therefore, it is vital that those who believe the good news work tirelessly for real and lasting change in individual lives” (pp 118-19, emphases his).
It is the second and third of these which I wish to engage here. My “important idea” is about change. Specifically: Unless and until we get an existential grip on the fact that change costs us something and that change is at best sporadic this side of kingdom consummation, we run the risk of missing the abundant life Jesus offers.
The fact that change is costly has much (if not everything) to do with suffering in this present life. Wright states “Yes, the basic victory has been won on the cross,” but “this suffering, whatever form it takes, is the way the true signs of God’s kingdom will appear on earth as in heaven” (p 118). In other words, suffering is not for naught but has a purpose, a meaning, an intended end toward which everything in the universe is moving. Later, he notes that “we can never suppose that God’s purposes will go forward automatically and all we have to do is to get on board” (p 120). Strapping ourselves onto God’s ship and passively enjoying the ride to heaven is not the biblical way of advancing God’s kingdom here on earth as in heaven. Indeed I’m reminded of this “promise” from Scripture, “In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted” (2 Tim 3:12). Yes. The text says what it means and means what it says. “Everyone who desires to live a godly life” and that would necessarily include all true believers! This is not to say that a spurious faith is invalidated if suffering is absent, nor is it to say that a genuine faith is validated when it is present. It is to say, de facto, that suffering is part of the lot of everyone who moves forward in Christlikeness. No one is excluded! This, in itself, may not be news. But it does provide a needed perspective on life when things are not going so well and reminds us as Christ-followers that this is our lot and we should not be surprised by it.
In addition to costly change, the idea that change is sporadic, often incidental or even episodal shows us that the trajectory of our moral progress is not always (if ever!) in a solid nor even in a straight line. There will be bumps in the road. Just a cursory reading of the Old Testament (or church history as Wright opines) and we see that motif repeated over and over again. Change “is never smooth, linear progress” nor is it a step-by-step procedure whereby we inch our way ever so closer “from glory to glory” until we finally reach the intended, blissful end. We must admit “there have been great losses” and “the music of the gospel is not moving in a steady crescendo toward a glorious climax” (p 119). Progress often feels like three steps forward and two steps backwards and real change is negligible at best.
If these things be true, that change is costly and change is sporadic, then they can provide us a richer perspective on living the daily Christian grind. We can rest in the fact that the gradual, subtle and often silent movement of God in our hearts, our lives, and the world around us is sure to reach its glorious end, no matter how inconsistent or challenging the road may be. To paraphrase Wright (and to take considerable liberties, p 121):
Just as Jesus did not appear with a flourishing of trumpets to blast God’s kingdom instantaneously across a world that was expecting a decisive triumph over oppressive Rome, we too may suppose God’s kingdom will be brought about in the same subtle, and often silent, ways. Yet these seemingly tacit maneuvers must never dissuade us from the assurance that God’s kingdom is decisively marching forward toward that moment when God is “all in all.” Let every tear shed and every pain felt remind us of these things. This is the abundant life to which we’ve been called and in which we’ve been blessed.
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