Secular Concepts Used to Illustrate the Gospel Message
The gospel message, understood as the "good message" or "good news" concerning the person and mission of Jesus Christ, is the central theme of Christian preaching [1]. While the core of this message remains consistent—Jesus Christ and him crucified [3]—ministers throughout history have employed various illustrations, including secular concepts, to communicate its truths. This approach is not new; even the Apostle Paul, when preaching, adapted his communication style while maintaining the substance of the gospel [2, 6].
The term "gospel" itself, from the Greek evangelion, signifies this "good message" [1]. It encompasses the doctrine of grace, life, and salvation through Christ [4, 7]. The content of this message is not derived from human philosophy or "enticing words of man's wisdom," but rather from divine revelation [2, 6]. However, the method of conveying this message can involve drawing parallels from everyday life or common understanding to make spiritual truths more accessible.
One common secular concept used to illustrate the gospel is that of a "seed" and "sowing." The preachers of the gospel are likened to sowers, and the word of God is compared to seed [9]. This analogy highlights several aspects:
- Smallness and Despicableness: Just as a seed might appear small or insignificant, the gospel can be overlooked or deemed unimportant by those who are "carnal" [9].
- Choice and Excellence: For believers, the gospel is "most choice and excellent," much like the best seed is reserved for sowing [9].
- Generative Virtue: Through divine influence, the word of God, like a seed, possesses a generative power. It is not merely information but something that can produce life and fruit [9].
- Necessity of Reception: Just as a seed must be sown into the earth to bear fruit, the word of God must find a place in the heart to be effective [9].
This agricultural metaphor is deeply rooted in biblical teaching, notably in parables taught by Jesus himself (e.g., the Parable of the Sower in Matthew 13). When ministers use this imagery, they are drawing on a concept familiar to most people—the process of planting and growth—to explain the spiritual process of conversion and sanctification.
Another secular concept, though often used in a negative sense, is that of a "strange woman" or "adulteress" to represent false doctrine or idolatry [8]. In Proverbs, wisdom is presented as a deliverer from such figures [8]. When applied to the gospel, this illustration emphasizes the gospel's role in delivering individuals from spiritual error, superstition, and anything contrary to truth [8]. This uses a common societal understanding of danger or deception to highlight the protective and liberating power of the gospel message.
The Apostle Paul, in his ministry, consciously avoided relying on "persuasive words of wisdom" or "technical words" contrived by human intellect [2, 6]. His focus was on Christ crucified, not on rhetorical flourishes or philosophical arguments [3]. Yet, this does not mean he avoided all forms of illustration or contextualization. John Chrysostom, commenting on Paul's approach, notes that Paul's preaching "had not the wisdom from without," meaning it did not depend on external philosophical systems [6]. However, Chrysostom also mentions figures like Hercules, who "purged the world of monsters and oppressors," as a point of reference, suggesting that even classical allusions could be used to frame discussions, though not to define the gospel itself [6]. The point was to communicate the gospel's power despite the lack of worldly wisdom or external support [6].
The use of secular concepts is not about diluting the gospel but about making its profound truths comprehensible. For instance, the concept of "fruit" is used to describe the liberality of Gentile churches towards the poor saints in Jerusalem [5]. This "fruit" represents the tangible outcome of their faith and the effectiveness of Paul's ministry [5]. The idea of fruitfulness is a secular concept—harvest, yield, results—that is readily understood and applied to spiritual generosity and the impact of the gospel.
The early Christian preachers, called evangelistai, were tasked with proclaiming the "good message" [1]. Their primary focus was the intelligence that "the Saviour had come into the world" [1]. While the message itself is divine, the methods of communication often involve bridging the gap between divine truth and human understanding through relatable concepts. This is evident in the way Paul, despite rejecting worldly wisdom as the source of his message, still engaged with different audiences in ways they could understand, whether in Athens or Corinth. His goal was to present Christ, not human cleverness [3].
Sources
- Easton's Bible Dictionary “Easton's Bible Dictionary: Gospels — The central fact of Christian preaching was the intelligence that the Saviour had come into the world (Matt. 4:23; Rom. 10:15); and the first Christian preachers who called their account of the person and mission of Christ by the term evangelion_ (= good message) were called _evangelistai (= evangelists) (Eph. 4:11; Acts 21:8). There are four historical accounts of the person and work of Christ: "the first by Matthew, announcing the Redeemer as the promised King of the kingdom of God; the second by Mark, declaring him a prophet, mighty in deed and word'; th”
- 1 Corinthians (Baptist/Reformed) “John Gill on 1 Corinthians 2:4: And my speech, and my preaching,.... As he determined, so he acted. As the subject matter of his ministry was not any of the liberal arts and sciences, or the philosophy and dry morality of the Gentiles, but salvation by a crucified Christ; so his style, his diction, his language used in preaching, was not with enticing words of man's wisdom; with technical words, words of art, contrived by human wisdom to captivate the affections; and with bare probable arguments only, a show of reason to persuade the mind to an assent, when nothing solid and substantial is a”
- 1 Corinthians (Nonconformist/Puritan) “Matthew Henry on 1 Corinthians 2:1: In this passage the apostle pursues his design, and reminds the Corinthians how he acted when he first preached the gospel among them. I. As to the matter or subject he tell us (Co1 2:2), He determined to know nothing among them but Jesus Christ and him crucified - to make a show of no other knowledge than this, to preach nothing, to discover the knowledge of nothing, but Jesus Christ, and him crucified. Note, Christ, in his person and offices, is the sum and substance of the gospel, and ought to be the great subject of a gospel minister's preaching. His bus”
- 2 Corinthians (Baptist/Reformed) “John Gill on 2 Corinthians 9:13: Whiles by the experiment of this ministration,.... That is, the poor saints at Jerusalem having a specimen, a proof, an experience of the liberality of the Gentile churches ministered to them by the apostles, first, they glorify God; by giving thanks unto him, acknowledging him to be the author of all the grace and goodness which they, and others, were partakers of; particularly for your professed subjection to the Gospel of Christ. The Gospel of Christ is the doctrine of grace, life, and salvation by Christ, of which he is the author, as God, the subject m”
- Romans (Baptist/Reformed) “John Gill on Romans 15:28: When therefore I have performed this,.... Meaning when he had dispatched that business, and finished that affair which the Macedonian and Achaian churches had entreated him to engage in, and which he had undertook; namely, to take their collection, and carry it to Jerusalem, and distribute it among the poor saints there; and which he expresses by another phrase, and have sealed to them this fruit. The liberality of the Gentile churches is called fruit, as it may be on many accounts; as with respect to the apostle, it was the fruit of his ministry and laborious prea”
- CCEL/NPNF (Eastern Orthodox) “John Chrysostom, Homilies on 1 & 2 Corinthians: Hercules, who is represented as “purging the world” of monsters and oppressors; Soph. Trach . 1078. ed. Musgrave. the world, and everywhere both by sea and land sowing the Gospel. [3.] Ver. 4 . “And my speech and my preaching was not in persuasive words of wisdom:” that is, had not the wisdom from without. Now if the doctrine preached had nothing subtle, and they that were called were unlearned, and he that preached was of the same description, and thereto was added persecution, and trembling and fear; tell me, how did they overcome without Divin”
- 1 John (Baptist/Reformed) “John Gill on 1 John 1 (introduction): In this chapter the apostle gives a summary of the Gospel, and the evidence of it, and from thence presses to a holy life and conversation, The sum of the Gospel is Jesus Christ, who is described both as God and man; his deity is expressed by being that which was from the beginning, the Word of life, life, and eternal life; his humanity by being the life manifested in the flesh, of which the apostles had full evidence by the several senses of seeing, hearing, and handling, and so were capable of bearing witness to the truth thereof, Jo1 1:1. And the ends h”
- Proverbs (Baptist/Reformed) “John Gill on Proverbs 2:16: To deliver thee from the strange woman,.... As the Gospel of Christ and its doctrines, or the instructions of wisdom, are a means of delivering persons from the evil man, his company, ways, and works; so from a naughty woman, an adulteress, called a "strange" woman; not because of another nation, or unknown, but because she belongs to another person, and not to him whom she entices into her embraces. Gersom interprets this of the sensitive appetite, and Jarchi of idolatry; as others do also of superstition and all false doctrine, and everything that is contrary to t”
- 1 Corinthians (Baptist/Reformed) “John Gill on 1 Corinthians 9:10: If we have sown unto you spiritual things,.... The preachers of the Gospel are compared to sowers of seed; the seed they sow is the word of God, which is like to seed, for its smallness and despicableness in the eyes of carnal men; and yet as the seed is the choicest which is laid by for sowing, the Gospel is most choice and excellent to true believers; like seed, it has a generative virtue through divine influence; and whereas unless sown into the earth, it brings forth no fruit, so neither does the word, unless it has a place in the heart, where, as seed in t”