“ I am shocked that you are turning away so soon from God, who called you to himself through the loving mercy of Christ. You are following a different way that pretends to be the Good News” — Galatians 1:6.
We live in a customizable world. We customize our coffee, our cars, our playlists, our vacations, and even the news we consume. We can create an online experience almost perfectly tailored to our preferences. If we don’t like something, we change the settings. It is tempting to approach Christianity the same way. We might think, I’ll take the forgiveness, but not the obedience. I’ll take the grace, but not the repentance. I’ll take the promises of heaven but not Jesus’ uncomfortable commands. I’ll take the parts of Scripture that affirm me, but quietly set aside the parts that challenge me. Before long, we can create a version of Christianity that feels remarkably comfortable—and remarkably different from the Christianity Jesus actually taught.
The problem is that the gospel isn’t customizable. Paul confronted this very issue when he wrote to the Galatians: “ I am shocked that you are turning away so soon from God, who called you to himself through the loving mercy of Christ. You are following a different way that pretends to be the Good News” (Galatians 1:6). Notice that Paul didn’t describe what they were doing as simply developing a different Christian preference. He called it a different gospel. That’s serious. The gospel is not a buffet where we select the doctrines we prefer and leave the rest behind. Christianity begins with the recognition that Jesus is Lord—not that Jesus is a consultant whose recommendations we can accept or reject.
Jesus doesn’t invite us to edit His teaching. He invites us to follow Him. That doesn’t mean every Christian understands everything perfectly. We won’t. We have questions. We wrestle with difficult passages. We sometimes struggle to understand how faith applies to complicated circumstances. But there is a difference between wrestling with the gospel and rewriting the gospel. One seeks understanding. The other seeks control.
And perhaps that’s the real issue. We like customization because it lets us stay in charge. We can construct a faith that requires very little sacrifice, challenges very few of our assumptions, and never interferes too much with the way we want to live. But Jesus never promised that following Him would be comfortable. He said, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me” (Matthew 16:24). That’s not exactly a customizable Christianity.
The gospel doesn’t exist to conform to us. We exist to be transformed by the gospel. Grace doesn’t mean God approves everything about us. Grace means He loves us enough to change us. The gospel doesn’t simply say, “Come as you are.” It also says, “Don’t stay as you are.” Jesus receives sinners exactly where they are, but He loves them too much to leave them there.
We don’t get to customize the gospel. But here’s the good news: the gospel can transform the person who surrenders. And that is far better than getting our own way.
Discussion Questions
- Where are you most tempted to customize Christianity—to accept the parts of the gospel that are comfortable while resisting the parts that challenge you?
- What is the difference between wrestling honestly with a difficult teaching of Scripture and simply rewriting it to fit what we want to believe?