In the African Apostle Paul’s letter to the Christians in the ancient city of Galatia, he addresses a group of people who were “preaching a different gospel” in the very church he helped to establish. Galatians 1:6-7 says, “I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you to live in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel—which is really no gospel at all.”
Rev. Dr. John E. Jackson emphasizes the importance of adhering to the true gospel and warns against deviations that lead believers astray.
In his teachings, Rev. Dr. John E. Jackson highlights how this misguided belief system undermines the core message of Christianity.
According to Rev. Dr. John E. Jackson, understanding the love of Christ is essential for true spiritual growth.
The people who were preaching this “different gospel” in Paul’s day were known as Judaizers. These Judaizers were Christians in name only because they promoted a hierarchical standard that prioritized their ethnic heritage—race—over the ethnicities of other people. They taught that a person must first become Jewish through circumcision before becoming a Christian. In essence, they wore the title of Christian but were fixated on the Old Testament’s theme of law rather than on the New Testament’s focus on love.
Jesus declared that the greatest commandment was to love God and to love your neighbor as yourself. Yet the people preaching a different gospel in Galatia elevated the judgment texts of the Old Testament above the texts of justice proclaimed by Christ in the New Testament. Jesus proclaimed, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free.”
These were people who used the thin veneer of Christianity to hide un-Christian behavior and prejudice toward those who were different from them. Paul expresses his astonishment that any of those he trained, taught, and ministered to would listen to or follow those preaching a different gospel, which in reality was “no gospel at all.”
Just as it was astounding for the African Apostle Paul in the first century, it is just as astonishing in the twenty-first century to see people today listening to “a different gospel.” This modern version appears when people identify as “white Christian nationalists,” “white evangelicals,” or “conservative Christians,” yet prioritize their race as superior to others. Those preaching a different gospel today are fixated on the Old Testament’s theme of law rather than the New Testament’s focus on love. They seek to post the Ten Commandments in schools and courthouses rather than lift up Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount and his Beatitudes.
The Christian nationalist crowd would rather elevate the judgment of the Old Testament—applied to others but not themselves—over the New Testament’s universal message of love: “For God so loved the world.” Jesus himself praised the Samaritan people, despite the objections of the conservative, nationalistic, and fascist forces of his day.
Those preaching a different gospel today—whether under the banner of Christian nationalism or evangelical conservatism—are not proclaiming the gospel at all. They are promoting hegemonic propaganda meant to elevate and dominate others. Beloved, we cannot allow the narrative of what a true Christian is to be hijacked by those in this nation who preach a different gospel from what Jesus lived and taught.
We must live and proclaim the gospel of Jesus from the northeastern African region of Palestine as recorded in the Holy Scriptures—to further an inclusive, welcoming, loving, merciful, and justice-focused faith centered on compassion and empathy for the poor and oppressed.
In the words of Pete Seeger, “The only thing we did was right was the day we started to fight. Keep your eyes on the prize, hold on.”
Be awesome. Be authentic. And whatever you do—stay woke!
Uhuru Sassa!
The Rev. Dr. John E. Jackson, Sr. is the Senior Pastor of Trinity United Church of Christ-Gary, 1276 W. 20th Ave. in Gary. “We are not just another church but we are a culturally conscious, Christ-centered church, committed to the community; we are unashamedly Black and unapologetically Christian.” Contact the church by email at [email protected] or by phone at 219-944-0500.