On presenting the gospel afresh
If you’ve cared for toddlers, you’ve likely discovered how often they want a story read over and over again. As soon as you read the final page, a child will often say, "Read it again!" To an adult a child’s need for repetition might feel exhausting at times. But children revel in repetition.
British writer G. K. Chesterton suggests a child’s desire for repetition is not a flaw of immaturity, but a glimpse into God’s heart.
Because children have abounding vitality, because they are in spirit fierce and free, therefore they want things repeated and unaltered. They always say, ‘Do it again’; and the grown-up person does it again until he is nearly dead. For grown-up people are not strong enough to enjoy monotony. But it is possible that God is strong enough to enjoy monotony. … It may be that He has the eternal appetite of infancy; for we have sinned and grown old, and our Father is younger than we" (from Chesterton’s book Orthodoxy, The Bodley Head, 1908).
About a century later, American theologian Thomas Oden remarked that a hallmark of modernity is "its insatiable demand for novelty." Consequently, we are endlessly on the lookout for the latest and greatest, with social media exacerbating our disdain for hearing the same thing over and over again. In this sense modernity is a rebellion against repetition.
I was recently convicted about this as I listened to a pastor speaking about the simple message of the gospel, that God sent Jesus to be the Saviour of the world, so that whoever believes in Him would receive eternal life (John 3:16). Embarrassingly, I thought, Who here hasn’t heard this a thousand times! – until I saw a young boy sitting with his parents, listening attentively to the pastor.
If God has built repetition into Creation and gospel, we shouldn’t be scandalized by the repetition of the simple truths of the gospel.
The Bible indicates God uses repetition to form the faith community. The Creation account establishes repetition of night, day, weeks and seasons as built into the world (Genesis 1). Later, when God gives the Law, He not only appeals to creational patterns (Exodus 20:11), but commands the Law be passed on through daily repetitive practices.
These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up (Deuteronomy 6:6–7).
Repetition carries forward into the New Testament. Paul doesn’t apologize to the Philippians for repeating fundamental teachings. "It is no trouble for me to write the same things to you again, and it is a safeguard for you" (Philippians 3:1b).
Even the central ordinance of Christian worship, the Lord’s Table, is given to be a repetitive mandate. "For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes" (1 Corinthians 11:26).
If God has built repetition into Creation and gospel, we shouldn’t be scandalized by the repetition of the simple truths of the gospel to our congregants, children and grandchildren. Apparently, God does not tire of reminding us who He is and what He has done.
As churches enter the autumn season, let me encourage those engaged in ministry as Christian education, catechism, Bible studies and sermon series are launched.
First, don’t assume we have to constantly find new things to teach or talk about. While a changing culture is always seeking the newest things, the gospel itself does not change and won’t suffer harm from repetition, even if how we communicate may be in need of renewal.
Second, never shy away from simple reiterations of the gospel. The New Testament offers various versions of the simple gospel. Each vary in wording, but essentially say the same thing over and over again (see Romans 1:3–4, 1 Timothy 3:16 and 1 Corinthians 15:3–4).
In our desire to become sophisticated or to appear scholarly, we sometimes fail to deliver the simple gospel – that God sent Jesus to be the Saviour of the world through His death on the cross and resurrection to eternal life.
Jim Rayburn, the American who founded the Christian ministry Young Life in 1941, once said it’s a sin to bore people with the gospel. I agree, but we should not assume repetition is the root of boredom. Those who enter the Kingdom are to be like little children (Matthew 18:2–4). If toddlers give us any clue, their joyful reception of the gospel is not merely because they’ve heard something new, but because they delight in hearing the story over and over again.
