Have you heard any good news lately? News media outlets and social media platforms seem to thrive on sharing bad news. Negativity certainly permeates our culture, but we all like to hear a good news story every once in a while. We certainly want to hear good news when it pertains to ourselves, to our loved ones, or to our immediate circumstances.
But what makes news good or bad? Have you ever stopped to think about that? Is it good news if it makes me feel good? Is it bad news if things don't go according to my plans? We can throw the terms "good news" and "bad news" around rather flippantly, but the root of good or bad news must be planted in truth. If I hear a bit of good news that is not grounded in truth, then it is not actually good news because it is not real; it is based on a lie.
Jared Wilson gets to the heart of this matter in his book The Gospel According to Satan. Like me, your first reading of that title might make you a little uncomfortable. In Christian circles, "gospel" is a common term. We talk about the gospel of Christ or the gospel of salvation or the four Gospels in the New Testament. The English word "gospel" comes from the Greek word euangelion, which means "good news." So why would Wilson refer to the "Gospel of Satan"? What good news could Satan possibly bring? Wilson says Satan "cannot create anything good" but he can "create his own 'gospel,' a perversion of the real one. It sounds like good news because it appears to answer questions we've always had, satisfy desires we've always felt, solve mysteries we've always pondered." Wilson presents eight lies about God that Satan uses in popular culture:
God just wants you to be happy.
You only live once.
You need to live your truth.
Your feelings are reality.
Your life is what you make it.
You need to let go and let God.
The cross is not about wrath.
God helps those who help themselves.
I'm not going to unpack those eight lies here because I highly recommend that you read the book, but I will make some observations. Several of those lies are thrown around like confetti in the world as well as in the church. Some of them have just a little bit of truth in them to make them seem believable. It is important that our gospel - our good news - is grounded in truth. Nothing is good news if it is not true. We often mean well when we use trendy phrases in an attempt to comfort others, but we need to make sure our words are full of the hope and truth that are verified in Christ. "Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God!" (Romans 11:33). We need to pray along with Paul that we "may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that [we] may be filled with all the fullness of God" (Ephesian 3:18-19).
So what makes good news good? Truth does. More specifically, the God of Truth does. Search the breadth and length and height and depth of his truth to find not only good news but the only news than can save fallen, sinful humans. The true gospel is the good news of salvation found by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, according to Scripture alone, and for the glory of God alone.
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