3 Dollars of Gospel

A week ago I read a sheet of paper given out containing the exposition of Philippians by D.A. Carson.

I would like to buy about three dollars worth of gospel, please.

Not too much – just enough to make me happy, but not so much that I get addicted.

I don’t want so much gospel that I learn to really hate covetousness and lust.

I certainly don’t want so much that I start to love my enemies, cherish self-denial, and contemplate missionary service in some alien culture.

I want ecstasy, not repentance;

I want transcendence, not transformation.

I would like to be cherished by some nice, forgiving, broad-minded people, but I myself don’t want to love those from different races – especially if they smell.

I would like enough gospel to make my family secure and my children well behaved, but not so much that I find my ambitions redirected or my giving too greatly enlarged.

I would like about three dollars worth of the gospel, please.

This is a great example of people who live between Category 2, 3 and 4.

There are people whom I know who don’t want to accept the Gospel. This is simply because they know that the very action of repenting and accepting God into their lives will drastically upset the way they live it. They only pick and choose based on what they need or want.

Unfortunately for them, God won’t let that happen.

Every part of the Gospel comes together, in one entire package, there is no choice for selection.