We need to be ready with an answer to these simple questions. If someone were to ask you what you believe, could you answer in clear and simple language? Just what is our core message?

First, the gospel message is not about:

• TV evangelists
• Evolution
• Family values
• The guy with the Scripture sign at football games
• Republicans or Democrats
• The various sins committed by Christians in the past
• Mistakes in the Bible
• The New Age
• How a good God could allow evil in the world
• Amy Grant
• Cults
• Predestination
• The religious right or left
  

But when someone asks us what a real Christian is or believes, this list is off limits. We need to be ready to teach the core tenets of our faith. We need to have what's core and what's tangential fixed in our minds.

The next time you find yourself discussing a topic from the list above, ask yourself, "Does this clear the air so we can talk about core Christian beliefs, or does it only raise more dust?"

Second, the gospel message is about:

• God and his view of our condition

• Jesus and his work on the cross

• Our personal response to God's view of us and to Christ's work

• God is our Creator. He is perfect. He is perfect in his love, which he desires to lavish on us. But he is also perfect in his justice, which burns with white-hot rage at anything evil.

• God perceives us in two ways. We are loved by him, passionately, deeply, perfectly. We are people created in God's image for a relationship with God. But we are also corrupted by evil and have fallen out of relationship with God. Rarely do I find people disagreeing with the idea that God is love. And most people would agree that something has gone wrong with our society and with people in general. People mostly agree with the witty author G. K. Chesterton, who said, "Certain new theologians dispute original sin, which is the only part of Christian theology which can really be proved."

• But to talk about personal sin raises hackles. Our culture is at odds with the word 'sin.' (Which, of course, is more proof for the point.) People prefer to judge themselves by motive rather than action, although, curiously, when it comes to others, we look at their actions and forget motive altogether. So people attribute their behavior to "dysfunction" or "genetic disorder" or "boo-boo"-anything but "my sinfulness."

• So when we talk about sin it's helpful to use words other than sin. Words like 'twisted,' 'broken' and 'evil' can be helpful. The point is for us to be able to talk about sin in ways that people can identify with. For instance, I'll often say, "Most major religions agree that we're in trouble and need help."

Well, often that response is social discomfort, not spiritual conviction. The same reaction could happen if someone breezed into a funeral dressed in a hot pink tutu. Still, there seems to be something powerful about the name of Jesus. If you can pick only one thing to tell about Christianity, speak of Jesus. Jesus is the core of our faith.

Speaking of Jesus is easy. Most people hold respect for him. I rarely hear Jesus spoken of in a negative way -- contrasted with, say, the TV evangelists. Yes, there is a great deal of ignorance and conjecture about who Jesus was -- a great moral teacher, just a Jewish rabbi or an alien from outer space. But don't take offense; use it as an opportunity. People are fascinated with Jesus, and they should be. He is fascinating! Most who have at least a passing knowledge of what he did and said are drawn to him -- for good or ill.

In Why Should Anyone Believe Anything at All? (IVP) Jim Sire says, "Put simply, the best reason for believing that the Christian religion is true is Jesus, and the best reason for believing in Jesus is Jesus himself. . . . Christianity, it turns out, is fundamentally about a person-the person of Jesus. Christianity proclaims that God has made himself known in many ways . . . but he has most supremely made himself known in and through Jesus Christ."

Here's a way you might make some core statements about Jesus:

• God's loves us and longs for us. But God is also just. That's why we all face eternal separation from him. I call this the cosmic dilemma. The solution-the only solution-comes from God himself.

• He sent his Son, Jesus, to live the perfect life, displaying the very nature of God. Jesus was fully man and fully God. The primary aim and work of his life was to pay the penalty for our evil nature. He did that by allowing his life to be taken through an execution on a cross.
• Though Jesus was a man of miracles, one miracle stands above all others-Jesus rose from the dead. Now, because of his death (which pays for our sin) and resurrection (which validates Jesus' claims and guarantees our eternal life), Jesus rules, and one day he will come as final judge and redeemer of the world and its creatures.

Here's a way you might make some core statements about a response to Jesus:

• Christianity is not an academic exercise. It demands a response. If anyone, from a choirboy to a hardened prison inmate, decides to follow Christ, the response is the same. We come to God as both our lover and our judge. We speak to him and to him alone.

• We tell him that we are aware of the distance between us. We tell him we desire to restore the relationship broken by our evil. (Evil can be as blatant as cheating on our spouse or as subtle as loving money or feeling pride.) We tell him we are willing to do an about-face from this evil to follow him.

• We tell him that we believe in Jesus' sacrifice on the cross as payment for our evil. We tell him we believe in the miracle of his resurrection.

• Finally we tell him we are willing to follow him, in faith, as leader of our lives in a relationship that is personal, not academic -- no matter where that takes us.

Mack Stiles, InterVarsity^® staff in the Southeast Region