V: Jesus and Paul didn't focus on fixing EVERYONE ... they focused on fixing a massive pervasive social problem going right to the heart of every individual ... to change ATTITUDE.
Yes, Jesus made it very clear that God is concerned with our attitude, with what is in our hearts and minds.
Mark 7:14-23 Again Jesus called the crowd to him and said, "Listen to me, everyone, and understand this. Nothing outside a man can make him 'unclean' by going into him. Rather, it is what comes out of a man that makes him 'unclean.'" After he had left the crowd and entered the house, his disciples asked him about this parable. "Are you so dull?" he asked. "Don't you see that nothing that enters a man from the outside can make him 'unclean'? For it doesn't go into his heart but into his stomach, and then out of his body." (In saying this, Jesus declared all foods "clean.") He went on: "What comes out of a man is what makes him 'unclean.' For from within, out of men's hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. All these evils come from inside and make a man 'unclean.' "
V: Therefore, the gospel message can no longer be identical to the one that Jesus and Paul preached.
Oh, but I think it is. "Gospel" -- from Old English "god spell", Germanic "gut speil" -- simply means "good news". It's the story of the life, teachings, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Love God, love your fellow man, friend or enemy. Do what is good, shun what is evil. Jesus died, Jesus conquered death and rose again, and nothing can now separate us from the love of God. I think that message has stood the test of time.
