Tell a lie often enough and it will be eventually accepted as truth. Most of us have heard the gospel of man most of our lives. And that’s whether or not we have ever stepped foot into a church. Motivational speakers, whether preachers or self-help gurus, have tapped into the power of man’s desires and man’s will to move their audience into action … at least the action of handing over their money. Man-centered should be a simple enough concept to understand, but it has been obscured by having been called Christ-centered so many times. Let’s face it, what preacher is going to claim that his gospel is man-centered? But hey, a society that espouses the concept that junk food is somehow good for you may be suspect of deliberately overlooking the obvious, don’t you think? :) The OBVIOUS? I’m talking about the boulders that get tripped over in the search for pebbles. Jesus called it “Straining gnats and swallowing camels.” You see, it doesn’t take a theologian to figure out that if the power to salvation is the gospel of Christ, then it is NOT found in my abilities, my intellect, my performance, my will or my decisions. In other words, if my salvation is up to ME then it’s not really up to God, is it? [Regarding faith, check out: Faith ] Christ-centered doesn’t mean that Christ did what He could and then left the rest of it up to us, but that He finished it all by Himself. Christ-centered simply means what it says, for ALL OF IT is centered around Him - from the beginning to the end, from the reason why to the doing of it to the living of it. Man-centered, on the other hand, suggests that this salvation revolves around YOU in some fashion. Now, having such a message pounded into our heads has forced us into a dilemma. What I’m saying is that those who have received the Spirit of God are thrust into an incredible tension, a tension that is the result of the discrepancy between the witness of the Spirit (from within) and that of man (from the outside). For a message that, in word, CLAIMS the power of God, but, in reality, LEANS ON the power of man fools our hearts and leaves us desperate enough to try almost anything to ease the conflict. That’s right, we end up trying to rescue ourselves by our own efforts. Please realize that I’m not suggesting any kind of nit-picking to get people to reword their gospel message so that it lines up. What is needed is the revelation from God that brings confidence that all revolves around His Son and the work HE has done. For we have received all spiritual blessings IN HIM. The words will follow as the heart is settled. The beautiful part is that those words don’t have to mimic somebody else’s words, but instead, will be full of life.