A ‘Gospel Bite’ – in other words a short answer to a commonly raised objection to the gospel.

I wish I had a dollar for every time someone has said to me, ‘I’m just not the religious type!’

The Gospels are full of examples of the ‘unreligious’ seeing in Jesus the answer to their deepest needs. One such episode is recounted in Matthew 8:5-13. Jesus’ gracious dealings with a Roman Centurion – a religious pagan and a political enemy – provides clear evidence that being the ‘religious type’ is irrelevant with Christianity. A possible response follows:

Being the ‘religious type’ is irrelevant to true Christian faith. Jesus was always attracting and befriending people who were not the religious type. On one occasion a Roman Centurion came to Jesus for help. Centurions were about as far from the religious type as you could get in Jesus’ day. They were called the ‘godless’ and were political enemies. But this man came to Jesus, recognizing something unique about this teacher. Jesus welcomed him and promised him a place in the kingdom to come – all without being religious. Have you explored much of Christ’s teachings?

 This ‘Gospel Bite’ is taken from John Dickson’s book The Best Kept Secret of Christian Mission (Zondervan, 2010), 206.