The discussion question is: Charles Kraft has identified several myths about the communication of the gospel

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The discussion question is:

Charles Kraft has identified several myths about the communication of the gospel.

As you read through the list, can you identify any that you have believed? If you think it is not a myth, how would you respond?

 

1. Hearing the Gospel with one's ears is equivalent to "being reached" with the gospel.

2. The Holy Spirit will make up for all mistakes if we are sincere, spiritual, and prayerful enough.

3. As Christians we should severely restrict our contacts with "evil" people and refrain from going to "evil" places lest we "lose our testimony" and ruin our witness.

4. Preaching is God's only ordained means of communicating the gospel.

5. The sermon is the most effective vehicle for bringing about life change.

6. The only key to effective communication is the precise formulation of the message.

 

I don't know what to respond to them.  I will post the responses below.

I am not looking for an answer to the discussion question. I am looking for help on what to respond to the the posts that my classmates made.

 

Below are the posts that my classmates made from the question. I am required to reply to them by providing feedback on my thoughts about their post. Whether I agree with them or not. I can provide more insight info regards to the topic. etc.

 

1. When reading the sidebar to me, I see them as being true because I have always grown up in a Christian household, so those bullet points were all something that I was taught from a young age. There was one that stood out to me that I believe part of it is true, whereas the other half was false. This was number 2 on the list. The first part talks about how our sin separates us from God, which is true, but the second one talks about how because of this we cannot experience God's love which to me is a myth. Because of God's love and forgiveness, we are able to experience his love if we ask for forgiveness. I feel like having it half true, and half a myth makes it hard to decide whether or not it is true or a myth if you do not have a Christian background.

 

2. One of the myths identified by Charles Kraft that I once believed to be true was that the Holy Spirit makes up for all of our mistakes. This myth led me to believe that it is ok to sin now in the present because later on in life I will take my faith more seriously and have a clean slate thanks to the Holy Spirit. I was foolish to think that sinning was ever an ok thing to do. it has set me back in growing my relationship with Christ. The only way to be forgiven of our sins is to lay our lives down for Jesus Christ our father and claim Him to be our savior who died on the cross for our sins. We won't simply be forgiven just because you believe.

All of the other myths identified I never believed thanks to my education from my church. They all are myths indeed because they are misinterpretations of the gospel that would lead one astray, as it did to me.

 

3. Some of the myths seem more obvious to me even though I don't know a lot about the communication of the gospel. The third myth that claims Christians should stay away from evil appears to be the most obvious myth to me. On the other hand, growing up I remember parents warning their kids to avoid certain crowds due to sinful behaviors or bad influences on their faith. The fifth myth claims that the sermon is the most effective vehicle to bring out life change, and I would say that was believable for me when I was younger. I thought going to church was necessary in order to flourish and grow into a better version of yourself, but I have realized that growth can occur in every avenue of life.

 

4. I thought that there were multiple bullet points that i would consider to be true. It seemed off knowing they are considering myth because as I went throught them, I thought that most of them stem from truth. Out of those six bullet points, there seems to be a level of truth in each one as well as a bit of myth. The second bullet point is the one that had a little of both. It stated, "the Holy Spirit will make up for all mistakes if we are sincere, spiritual, and prayerful enough." Honestly this stems from the truth because if everyone was completely devoted to God, then if they were to make mistakes or be in the wrong, the Lord would protect them and sort of cover their wrongs. However, if no one was to show any devotion towards God, then there would seem to not be any sort of connection between that individiual and God, making it harder to find the truth as there is no guidance. As for the rest of them, I feel like it is more difficult to find out what is true because the wording might be off or can be misunderstood which can later be wrongly interpreted. For example the fourth bullet point, which stated, "Preaching is God's only ordained means of communicating the gospel." This is not the only way to talk about the word of God, or share his word. I believe that one can use their words or actions to express his word. We can share it verbally, through media paltforms, etc. That is why sometimes it would be hard to find the truth, making is seem as making inviduals choose whether to end all with God or to be all in for God.