Wait? John who?

And what exactly am I agreeing to?

You know those user agreements that you are supposed to read before you use an app or update software? How many have you actually read? I’ve never even read one! And, when I’ve tried to read them I get bored and I barely understand what I’m reading. I end up scrolling to the bottom and clicking I AGREE without any real idea of what I just agreed to. So far, that hasn’t caused any problems. The licensing and user agreements are just a formality and it’s probably fine to skim them over and decide to agree because it’s really not that important.

We run into problems, however, when we apply this to things that are really important. Take faith, for example: In the Western world so many people believe in God or don’t believe in God without having ever read the terms for themselves. So many non-Christians have ideas and attitudes about Christianity that are nowhere to be found in the scriptures. At the same time, many who profess to follow Jesus, have never fully read his word. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if someone wrote out the terms of following Jesus so we could all know what we’re agreeing to or even what we’re rejecting?

Well, someone did! And his name was John.

The New Testament of the Christian Bible begins with 4 gospels; each named after their authors, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. John was one of the original followers of Jesus and wrote the gospel that bears his name. A “gospel” (aka good news) is more than just a story about someone’s life. The gospel writers believed that Jesus was the son of God who brought salvation to the world and they wanted everyone who read their gospels to believe that too.

There! Now you know who John is!

But the question is, “Do you agree with John?”

Don’t be so quick to answer. You need to understand the terms before you agree! Here’s some good news about the good news: It’s really easy to read John’s gospel for yourself. In only 21 short chapters, John gives us the essentials of what it means to agree to follow Jesus. You can read his gospel yourself on a Bible app or a physical Bible (old school, I know, but even better because of less distractions). You may have already been given an easy to read copy of John’s gospel from the person who shared this website with you. If not, we’d love to give you one. You can request a free copy here.

I believe that unlike most user agreements you won’t find the Gospel of John to be boring or confusing. But, to help you understand the essentials of what it means to agree with John (and Jesus!) we’ve created this online Bible study that highlights key moments and teachings from John’s gospel. As you read the gospel for yourself and as you read through this Bible study, you’ll gain the confidence to wholeheartedly agree with John. And unlike those other agreements that have no real affect on our lives, deciding to agree with John has the potential to change everything! These six, six minute Bible studies will show you how.