Truly Gospel-Centred????

Paul's benediction at the end of Romans might seem on the surface to be a typical doxology/benediction where people just try to cram a heap of classic Christianese clichés into as short a space as possible.  However, I think if we look deeper we will see something that is formative for the church:

Now to him who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ,according to the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages but has now been disclosed and through the prophetic writings has been made known to all nations, according to the command of the eternal God, to bring about the obedience of faith—to the only wise God be glory forevermore through Jesus Christ! Amen. (Romans 16:25-27)

If we are to follow the logic of Paul's prayer we see:

A. Paul prays to God who is the One who is able to strengthen the church
        B. God strengthens the church through the gospel & preaching of Jesus Christ
                C. This gospel is the revelation of the mystery of all that God was doing in times past
                C. This message has been disclosed through the Scriptures to all nations
        B. This is the command of God to bring about faith
A. God gets all the glory forever

The A statements represent Paul's recognition that God is the One who is at work in the life of the church and therefore is worthy of all the glory.  The B statements show by what means God strengthens the church, namely His command to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ (see great commission).  Finally the C statements show what the significance of this gospel message is, namely it is the fullest revelation of God and is proclaimed through the Scriptures (prophetic writings).  Basically what we see in Paul's prayer is a vision of what God's desire for His church is and the means by which He commands us to achieve that vision. In short God desires that the church is strengthened AND the nations are brought to faith through the proclamation of Jesus Christ in the gospel.

Unfortunately, I think we can sometimes be guilty of attempting to drive church reform by some means other than the gospel.  Legalism, traditionalism, reductionism, professionalism, pragmatism and other philosophies all have the potential to derail God's gospel work amongst His people.  While there are other beautiful and essential ministries that should be on the radar of every church like unity, purity & justice; time and time again the Scriptures point to the gospel being the power of God for the sanctification of the church (Rom 1:16-17; 1Cor 1:18-31; 2Tim 4:1-5; 1Pet 1:22-25).  Therefore I think we need to start thinking about purity, unity and justice being the overflow of gospel reformation rather than the means to reformation itself.  So if we want a strong church then I think it is wise if we pray like Paul. That God would be the One strengthening the church and that we would be prepared for Him to strengthen the church through the means that He says He will, namely through the proclamation of Jesus Christ in the gospel!

• Instead of legalism (enforcing legalistic purity), we proclaim the message by which God is bringing about the obedience of faith all over the world.
• Instead of traditionalism (doing things because that is the way we have always done them), we let the gospel impact each generation and be open to the creative contribution they will make to mission.
• Instead of seeking unity by reductionism (removing doctrine to satisfy the lowest common denominator), we preach the gospel and bring unity through a common Lord, Spirit, faith & baptism.
• Instead of professionalism (restructuring our churches to match the models we see in the business world), we conform our structures to elevate and promote gospel proclamation.
• Instead of pragmatism (embracing the programs, models and strategies that have worked in other contexts), we need to embrace the gospel as the formative message of the church because that is where God says He will work.

Lots of people talk about "gospel centred ministry" these days but my fear is that many people identify with the idea not because they have been gripped by the gospel themselves but because they have perceived that it is a trendy, attractive idea; because it is the buzzword at the moment! As long as we are still bound to pragmatism our gospel-centredness will only be a product of our desire to be trendy rather than a product of the church and its leaders being informed, convicted, challenged and transformed by the gospel.

In other words what I think I am saying is: The gospel needs to master you and your church!  We need to worship God with, through and because of the gospel.  We need to preach the gospel to reach the lost.  We need to teach the gospel at depth to grow believers.  We need to sacrificially and passionately serve the hurting and marginalised in our communities so the gospel will get a foothold in their lives.  And of first importance we need to put our ministers in places where they will be convicted and challenged by the gospel through the Scriptures so they can reproduce this conviction in the life of the congregations they serve!  It is one thing to talk about what you are doing with the gospel... it is another thing to talk about what God is doing in you through the gospel.

By way of analogy, just about every funeral home that advertises on TV or radio says they are "caring & compassionate", it is almost the gold standard of funeral advertising.  But simply because a funeral home puts the words "caring & compassionate" in their slogan or business statement doesn't make them actually "caring & compassionate".  A funeral home is caring & compassionate when they put genuine care into practice and people are actually touched by their sacrificial and selfless service in a time of need.  In the same way you don't become "gospel-centred" by putting the words in the your mission statement, you become truly gospel-centred when you put the gospel at the centre of everything you do!  When you let the gospel loose in your church and trust that God will use it to convict, challenge, encourage and transform you and your people.

Time to Wean that Baby

The writer of the letter to the Hebrews outlines his sadness that the church has not been weaned off milk. He is sad because this reveals that they are only spiritual infants, weak and unable to fend for themselves in a world that is riddled with false teaching and legalism. "Milk" in this context is the "elementary teachings about Christ". As I read this passage in Hebrews I am challenged to think about whether I am serving up milk or meat to the people I minister to. In our church context today what is milk and what is meat?

When I think of elementary teachings about Christ the first word that pops into my head is "the gospel". Surely the gospel is the most elementary teaching about Christ. 1 Corinthians 15:1-4 outlines these elementary teachings pretty well:

Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you— unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures...

Some people would see the call to leave the "milk" and move onto the "meat" as a call to leave the gospel in the realm of initial salvation, something given to unsaved folk so they can receive Christ, and then to move onto something else in order to grow the church to maturity. But does this represent a shift away from the foundation of our faith and reliance on something other than Christ? Other churches these days are describing themselves as "gospel-centred", (in fact it has become a bit of a catch phrase in church circles), believing that the church should be all about calling unsaved people to respond to the gospel. But if all you do is preach the gospel to call people to initial salvation are you simply loading up people with milk and never weaning them onto meat?

Here is the dilemma: How can we move people onto maturity without abandoning the foundation of the gospel? And how can we be gospel-centred without letting our people miss out on the meat they need to mature?

I have called this blog Gospel at Depth because it is the phrase that best encompasses my answer to this dilemma. Teaching the gospel at depth is to take the foundational message of Christ's atoning death and resurrection, the message of salvation by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone, and to apply it to every circumstance of life. My desire is to see the people I teach given the gospel not only as the means of salvation but as the means of sanctification as well. I want the first question they ask when confronted with the daily events of life to be: how does the gospel apply here? I want them to mature by chewing on the meat of the gospel.

It is my hope that this blog will present the gospel in such a way that we can wrestle with its implications for daily life and openly discuss how the gospel can grow us into maturity.