There was a little girl who came home from school and said, “Daddy, I’m so frustrated. I’m never going back to school again!”

Her wise father gently asked why that was. “My teacher is frustrating me. First, she says that 5+5=10. Then she says that 6+4=10. Then, 3+7=10.”

Her dad said, “Yes, so what is frustrating about that?”

The little girl stomped her foot and exclaimed, “Why can’t she make up her mind?”

There’s a gospel that frustrates. The word “Gospel” means “good news”, and if our Gospel is unclear, it is not going to be good news. It is going to frustrate the hearer. What are some examples of a frustrating Gospel?

“Confess all of your sins to God.” How on earth could you possibly remember all of the sins that you committed? This is asking someone to do the impossible.

“Make a conscious decision to turn from all known sin.” This is a nice platitude, but it is impossible. We are born with a sin nature, and we will have it until the day we die.

“Pursue holiness.” Again, this is something that sounds nice, but how can an unsaved person do something that most saved people struggle with? Requiring a person to pursue holiness to be saved will only lead to frustration.

“True saving faith always results in obedience.” If you tell this to an unsaved person, they will spend the rest of their life doubting their salvation every time they sin. Keeping God’s commandments is a discipleship issue, not a salvation issue. Be so careful not to confuse discipleship verses with salvation verses.

An unclear Gospel is frustrating and destructive. Determine to always keep the Gospel message clear and simple, and avoid spreading frustration.