Are you cursed?

Had a really great time last weekend hanging out with our student group and digging in to the Bible together.  We covered a lot of ground but I just wanted to share a few thoughts with you all.  One thing that really stuck me was how narrow minded we can be in our interpretation of the Bible and also in our presentation of the gospel.  The gospel I most hear preached in todays Western culture is kinda a repackaged version of karma based on a heresy made popular by Pelagius in around the 4th century (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pelagianism for more details). The way I have most often heard it is something like this....

Have you ever read the 10 commandments? Have you kept all the commandments? No.....you stole a pen once? Well you're a sinner. And because you're a sinner you're going to hell unless something can be done to make up for the bad things you have done. But don't worry cos Jesus offered to take the punishment for you - God the Father killed his Son Jesus to pay the price for what you did wrong. Isn't that great?

Ever heard that before?

There's a few problems I have with this telling of the Gospel...
1) Do we really think that the God of the Bible is so petty he's gonna send someone to hell for stealing a pen?
2) Is Jesus death on a cross really a proportional punishment for my crime of pen stealing?
3) If the problem is my doing a few things wrong then surely the solution lies with me too? Surely I can just do a few good things to even it out and then that's the problem solved? What do I need Jesus for?!

So what is the true message of the gospel? First we need to properly present the problem. 

"So, in the same way that sin entered the world through one person, and death came through sin, so death spread to all human beings with the result that all sinned." (Romans 5:12)

"Since death came through a human being, the resurrection of the dead came through one too. In the same way that everyone dies in Adam, so also everyone will be given life in Christ." (1 Corinthians 15:21-22)

The problem is not my 'sinful' actions. According to the Bible it is not my actions that make me a sinner. Instead the Bible tells us that there is a curse on humanity. The curse of sin and death entered the world through Adam and, just like kids inheriting a genetic disease, all of Adam's descendants are born with this curse. So the things I do wrong are not what make me bad - they are just a result of the curse, symptoms of my disease.  We keep telling people to treat the symptoms instead of telling them about the root problem - the curse!

Once we understand how huge the problem is then the solution becomes clearer.  If the problem is that the whole of mankind is cursed then it's clear that we can't fix it - we need outside help from someone greater than us.  Someone needs to break the curse.  That's where Jesus comes in.....

So, in summary:

1) Let's stop misrepresenting God and making Him sound like some petty dictator who sends people to hell over minute details!

2) Let's start talking to people about the true problem - the curse. I'm sure few people would disagree that we live in a crazy messed up world so hearing we are under a curse will probably make a lot of sense!
... And then let's tell them the amazing Good News that there is hope for this world yet, there is a cure to the curse. And it doesn't lie with politicians or recycling or renewable energy. The cure lies with Jesus!