And sin got reduced to our imperfection within ourselves. That is what we were created for-that kind of connectedness to all things, including God.īut our understanding of the Gospel, especially in the 20th century, got reduced down to simply our relationship with God. Maybe the news is not so good or maybe it’s just not good enough.Īll parts of creation were created in interconnected relationship and those relationships are what God declared very good at the end of the sixth day. It had nothing to say about the lives they were living or the oppression they were experiencing.Īnd I realized if my Gospel is muted in the face of the worst stuff that has ever happened on our land then maybe it’s not so good. It was also a very legal construct: It’s very linear in its thinking and very simple.īut I imagine myself sharing that understanding of the Gospel with my own ancestors who walked the Trail of Tears and who had been enslaved in the South and I asked myself at the end of that journey: “Would my understanding of the Gospel make them jump up and down and holler because it was so darn good?” and I realized I could not share that Gospel with them. The reality is that when it came down to it my understanding at that point of the good news of the Gospel was God loves me, but I’m sinful and Jesus died for my sins and if I pray this prayer then I get to go to Heaven.
I have to say, my understanding of the good news of the Gospel was really wrapped up in the Four Spiritual laws. Then, over the second half, we retraced the African experience in America from slavery through Civil Rights. For the first two weeks we retraced the Cherokee Trail of Tears. And I was just really struck at the end of that journey. The book came out of 13 years of exploration of Genesis, particularly Genesis 1-3 and that came out of a journey I took in 2003 called the Pilgrimage for Reconciliation. Can you tell me for our audience that may not be familiar with the concept, can you talk about the concept of the book and why you landed on that title in particular? We spoke talked with Harper, who is the chief church engagement officer at Sojourners, about the deep connection between the gospel and justice, her new book The Very Good Gospel and why it starts with understanding the message of Genesis. And that means, according to Lisa Sharon Harper, the only hope the world has for justice is the message of the gospel. Because at the heart of the Christian message is justice itself.
If the myriad of tragic events over the last few years has done anything for Americans, it’s shown us the stark need for justice in the world.
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