Relooking at the Gospel
Introduction: good news, bad news or fake news?
What does "gospel" mean?
"Gospel" simply means good news. The English word comes from the Old English godspel: god (good) + spel (news, story). It translates the Greek word euangelion, from eu (good) and angelion (message), the same root as "angel", a messenger.
In Jesus' day, euangelion was not a church word. It was the word for a royal announcement: a victory won, or a new king born or crowned. So when the Gospels announce the good news of another King, they are making a bold claim.
When does it first appear?
- In the prophets. Isaiah links good news directly to the kingdom:
"How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation, who say to Zion, 'Your God reigns!'" (Isaiah 52:7)
- At Jesus' birth. "Do not be afraid! For behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people" (Luke 2:10).
- As a written Gospel. Mark, probably the earliest Gospel, opens with the word itself:
"This is the beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God." (Mark 1:1)
When does the gospel sound like bad news?
The gospel is good news, yet to many people it does not sound good at all. It can sound like bad news:
- When it comes as condemnation rather than an invitation, a list of rules and guilt with no grace.
- When it is shrunk to a ticket to heaven later, with nothing to say about life now.
- When it is told without love, to win an argument or grow a group rather than to bless a person.
- When it threatens our own kingdom. If I am the king of my life, news of another King is not good news to me at first. When Jesus preached in his hometown, the crowd was so angry they tried to throw him off a cliff (Luke 4:28–29).
Paul knew this: "we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles" (1 Corinthians 1:23).
When does it sound like fake news?
Sometimes it sounds too good to be true:
- When grace sounds too cheap to be real. Forgiveness for free? There must be a catch.
- When it is oversold with promises of health, wealth and no suffering, which life does not bear out.
- When the messengers' lives contradict the message. Hypocrisy makes the news sound fake.
- When it is mixed with politics, marketing or self-interest, and people cannot tell what is being sold.
Even the first disciples thought the resurrection was fake news. When the women reported the empty tomb:
"But their words seemed like nonsense to them, and they did not believe the women." (Luke 24:11)
Meanwhile the real fake news was being written. The chief priests paid the guards to say, "His disciples came by night and stole Him away while we were asleep" (Matthew 28:13).
Perhaps this is part of the mystery. The gospel sounds like bad news to those who want to stay king, and like fake news to those who think it is too good to be true. It only sounds like good news when we come from a place of not knowing, and let it be what it is.
The gospel is a mystery
I have been relooking at the gospel, and one word keeps coming back to me: mystery.
My starting point comes from Jamie Winship: I do not know what I do not know. When I look at the gospel with new lenses, I have to come from a place of not knowing. Preconceived ideas still seep through, and the mystery is still unfolding.
In the Bible, a mystery is not a puzzle we solve. It is something hidden that God chooses to reveal.
"the mystery that was hidden for ages and generations but is now revealed to His saints." (Colossians 1:26)
Jesus told his disciples that the mystery of the kingdom had been given to them (Mark 4:11). It is hidden from the wise and revealed to little children (Matthew 11:25). So not knowing is not a weakness. It may be the only way in.
As I read the Gospels again, I see the mystery in at least eight places: in the kingdom, in who Jesus is, in his ways, his timing, his love, his calling, in what is still unknown, and in our own churches today.
1. The mystery of the kingdom
The gospel Jesus preached was the gospel of the kingdom. But most of us have never lived under a king, and we do not really know what a kingdom is like.
What it is. The word Jesus used means "rule" or "reign" more than a territory. The Lord's Prayer explains it:
"Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven." (Matthew 6:10)
The second line explains the first. The kingdom of God is wherever God's way is actually happening. Dallas Willard described a kingdom as the range of your effective will, the place where what you say goes.
Everyone already has a king. Something rules each of us: a boss, money, fear, approval, our own ego. The gospel announces that a better ruler has come and we can change our allegiance. That is what repentance means (Matthew 4:17).
This king is different. Earthly rulers lord it over people. Jesus came the other way:
"just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many." (Matthew 20:28)
What it is like. Even Jesus did not define it. He asked, "To what can we compare the kingdom of God?" (Mark 4:30), and then gave us pictures:
- It starts tiny and grows quietly, like a mustard seed or yeast (Matthew 13:31–33).
- It is worth everything, like a hidden treasure or a pearl (Matthew 13:44–46).
- It is a feast for the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame (Luke 14:21).
- It is upside down: the last are first, and the child is the greatest (Matthew 18:3–4; 20:16).
How it feels from the inside:
"For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit." (Romans 14:17)
The kingdom is already "in your midst" (Luke 17:21), yet we still pray for it to come. It is life as God always intended it, breaking into the world as it is. Wherever forgiveness replaces revenge, the outcast gets a seat at the table, or someone serves instead of grasping, we catch a glimpse of it.
2. The mystery of who he is
Before Jesus did anything, two things were already in place. He knew who he was, and he stayed close to the Father in prayer. Being came before doing.
He knew who he was. At his baptism, before a single miracle, the Father spoke:
"And a voice from heaven said, 'This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased!'" (Matthew 3:17)
John the Baptist also knew who he was: "a voice of one calling in the wilderness" (John 1:23). So when his disciples came worried that everyone was now going to Jesus (John 3:26), John was not threatened. His reply is so humbling:
"The bride belongs to the bridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom stands and listens for him, and is overjoyed to hear the bridegroom's voice. That joy is mine, and it is now complete. He must increase; I must decrease." (John 3:29–30)
For Jesus, knowing who he was freed him to serve:
"Jesus knew that the Father had delivered all things into His hands, and that He had come from God and was returning to God. So He got up from the supper... and began to wash the disciples' feet." (John 13:3–5)
He listened before he acted. Even at the height of his busyness, Jesus withdrew to pray. His relationship with the Father was sealed, and the word for the day came in the morning.
"Early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up and slipped out to a solitary place to pray." (Mark 1:35)
"He awakens Me morning by morning; He awakens My ear to listen as a disciple." (Isaiah 50:4)
After that prayer, everyone was looking for him, but he already knew where to go next (Mark 1:37–38). Perhaps prayer is also why he went through Samaria, a place most Jews avoided:
"Now He had to pass through Samaria." (John 4:4)
There a woman at the well, and then a whole town, came to believe (John 4:39–42).
"Truly, truly, I tell you, the Son can do nothing by Himself, unless He sees the Father doing it." (John 5:19)
3. The mystery of his ways
It is not so much what Jesus did, but how he did it. And how he did it fits no formula.
He dealt differently with the crowds and with individuals:
- With the crowds, "He did not tell them anything without using a parable" (Mark 4:34).
- With Nicodemus, he talked privately at night (John 3:1–21).
- With the woman at the well, he began by asking for a drink (John 4:7).
- He healed one blind man with a word (Mark 10:52), another with spit and two touches (Mark 8:23–25), and another with mud and a pool (John 9:6–7).
- With Zacchaeus, he invited himself to dinner (Luke 19:5).
There is no technique to copy. But there are patterns in the way he moved among people:
- He asked questions more than he gave answers: "Who do you say I am?" "What do you want Me to do for you?"
- He let himself be interrupted. On the way to a dying girl, he stopped for one unnamed woman (Mark 5:21–43).
- He touched before he cured. He reached out to the leper first (Mark 1:41).
- He sat at the table with tax collectors and sinners (Luke 15:1–2).
- He worked small, slow and hidden, like a seed in the ground.
4. The mystery of his timing
There is no urgency in the way Jesus moved. At 12, he already knew who he was:
"'Why were you looking for Me?' He asked. 'Did you not know that I had to be in My Father's house?'" (Luke 2:49)
Yet he waited until he was about 30 (Luke 3:23). Why? Maybe it was his duty as the son of Joseph, for he went home and was obedient to his parents (Luke 2:51). Maybe the time was not yet right, as he said even at Cana: "My hour has not yet come" (John 2:4). Maybe at 30 he would carry a greater sense of ownership. I don't know.
"But when the time had fully come, God sent His Son." (Galatians 4:4)
He gave only the last three years of his life to public ministry. That is very telling. The gospel follows a grand plan, unfolding on God's schedule, so hidden that even the powers of darkness did not see it coming:
"No, we speak of the mysterious and hidden wisdom of God, which He destined for our glory before time began. None of the rulers of this age understood it. For if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory." (1 Corinthians 2:7–8)
5. The mystery of his love
Again and again, Jesus was moved with compassion:
"When He saw the crowds, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd." (Matthew 9:36)
At the wedding in Cana, he turned water into wine so the hosts would not be shamed (John 2:1–11).
But what about his own family? His love for people is well documented, while his family is mentioned less. His brothers did not believe in him (John 7:5), and he said, "whoever does the will of God is My brother and sister and mother" (Mark 3:35). His calling seemed higher than his family duties.
Yet his love for them is there. On the cross, in agony, he made sure his mother was cared for:
"When Jesus saw His mother and the disciple whom He loved standing nearby, He said to His mother, 'Woman, here is your son.' Then He said to the disciple, 'Here is your mother.'" (John 19:26–27)
And his brother James, who once did not believe, met the risen Lord (1 Corinthians 15:7) and became a pillar of the church (Galatians 2:9). Perhaps his calling did not cancel his love for his family but redeemed it. This is something I want to keep meditating on.
6. The mystery of his calling
Why these twelve? Jesus prayed all night before choosing them (Luke 6:12–16), and it seems he already knew whom he wanted. He first called two sets of fishermen brothers, then Levi the tax collector:
"'Come, follow Me,' Jesus said, 'and I will make you fishers of men.'" (Matthew 4:19)
They were not Pharisees, scribes or learned men. They were ordinary, maybe less than ordinary, and often clueless. When James and John asked for the best seats in his kingdom, Jesus said:
"'You do not know what you are asking,' Jesus replied. 'Can you drink the cup I will drink, or be baptized with the baptism I will undergo?' 'We can,' the brothers answered." (Mark 10:38–39)
And yet he called them. The calling matters more than the quality of the people called.
"You did not choose Me, but I chose you." (John 15:16)
"Brothers, consider the time of your calling: Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were powerful; not many were of noble birth." (1 Corinthians 1:26)
Notice the order: he appointed them first to be with him, and then to be sent out (Mark 3:14). It was the Holy Spirit who empowered them, not their own merit (Acts 1:8). Even their enemies could see the difference:
"When they saw the boldness of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they marveled and took note that these men had been with Jesus." (Acts 4:13)
The way he was sent is the way he sends us: "As the Father has sent Me, so also I am sending you" (John 20:21).
7. The mystery that remains
Even today, with all we think we know about the gospel and how it spreads, much is still hidden:
- Why one person believes and another doesn't. The Lord opened Lydia's heart (Acts 16:14), and no one comes unless the Father draws them (John 6:44).
- How the Spirit moves. "The wind blows where it wishes. You hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it is going." (John 3:8)
- Why it grows under pressure. Persecution scattered the early church, and the scattered ones spread the word (Acts 8:1–4).
- Why God uses us at all. He put this treasure in jars of clay (2 Corinthians 4:7).
- Who reaps what we sow. One plants, another waters, but God gives the growth (1 Corinthians 3:6–7).
- Why healing comes and doesn't come. Paul healed many, yet left Trophimus sick (2 Timothy 4:20).
- What becomes of those who never heard.
- When the end will come. Even the Son said he did not know the day or hour (Mark 13:32).
8. The mystery in our own context: Singapore today
The church in Singapore is no longer growing. For the first time since religious statistics were collated in 1980, the share of Christians has fallen. Christians made up 18.9% of residents in 2020 and 17.1% in 2025. Protestants fell from 11.9% to 9.5%, while Catholics rose slightly from 7.0% to 7.6% (EAST).
At the same time, people with no religion rose from 17% in 2010 and 20% in 2020 to 23.9% in 2025. Among those aged 15 to 24, more than one in four now say they have no religion (Malay Mail).
Inside the church, much of what looks like growth is believers moving between churches. In a 2022 survey, 45% of churches reported more people leaving than joining. In a 2023 study of 12 churches attracting young adults, only one named conversions as its main source of growth. Young adults who left their churches pointed to the preaching, the lack of real community, and church leadership and culture (Thir.st).
Behind the numbers are people. Some are disillusioned. Some avoid church because it feels too fake. For them, the gospel has started to sound like bad news, or like fake news.
When the good news sounds like bad news
For the disillusioned, church may have become a place of performance: serving until burnout, measured by attendance and roles, carrying guilt instead of grace. Some have been hurt by leaders or by people they trusted. To them, the gospel no longer sounds like an invitation. It sounds like one more burden.
Jesus' invitation was the opposite: "Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest" (Matthew 11:28).
When the good news sounds like fake news
For others, church seems too polished. The worship is excellent, the programmes run well, but they see a gap between the Sunday image and the Monday reality. They sense that people are not being honest about their struggles. When the messengers do not seem real, the message does not seem real either.
What the mystery of the gospel says to us now
Perhaps the way forward is not a better programme but a return to the way of Jesus.
- No formula. We have often turned the gospel into a system to run. Jesus asked questions, let himself be interrupted, touched people and sat at their tables. That cannot be faked.
- Being before doing. A busy church that prays little will run on its own strength. Jesus withdrew to pray even at the height of his ministry.
- His timing, not ours. The kingdom grows like a seed, small, slow and hidden. Numbers matter, but they are not the only measure of what God is doing.
- Love, one by one. The disillusioned and the dechurched are not a statistic. Jesus left the ninety-nine for one (Luke 15:4).
- Ordinary people who have been with Jesus. What made the first disciples believable was not polish or learning. It was that "these men had been with Jesus" (Acts 4:13). Authenticity, not performance, is the answer to "fake".
- Pressure, not comfort, has often grown the church. In a comfortable and successful city, this may be the hardest mystery of all.
Questions to sit with
- If someone avoids church because it feels fake, what would they need to see to believe it is real?
- Where has the good news become bad news in my own life, a burden instead of rest?
- Am I spending more time doing things for Jesus than being with him?
Closing: the mystery is a Person
I started from a place of not knowing, and I end there too, but differently. The more I look at the gospel, the less it looks like a formula and the more it looks like a Person. Paul names the heart of the mystery:
"To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory." (Colossians 1:27)
Jesus knew who he was. He listened to the Father. He loved people one by one. And he called ordinary people like us to be with him and then to go.
When Paul reached the edge of what he could explain, he did not end with an answer. He ended with worship:
"O, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments, and untraceable His ways!" (Romans 11:33)
Perhaps that is the right place to stand.
Scripture quotations are from the Berean Standard Bible (BSB), which is in the public domain.
