Being Consumed by the Gospel

Creature of the Word by Matt Chandler, Eric Geiger and Josh Patterson:

[We] have slowly lost our awe for Jesus and His finished work. Intellectually, of course, we still hold firmly to the gospel. [We] could easily share a snapshot of its truths without thinking hard— a brief, biblical presentation of Jesus and His gracious gift of salvation. Yet we’ve learned to rely on other things to form the center of our daily work, to motivate the life and activity of our churches. Our drift has not been one of overt rebellion but of an inner twisting of the heart, a loss of appreciation for the gospel and all its ramifications. We could articulate the gospel well, but we don’t view the essence of the gospel as the foundation for all of ministry.

And that’s a huge difference— the difference between knowing the gospel and being consumed by the gospel, being defined by the gospel, being driven by the gospel. It’s one thing to see the gospel as an important facet of one’s ministry. It’s quite another to hold firmly to it as the centerpiece for all a church is and does, to completely orbit around it.

The gospel.

Though such a glorious thing, it’s also such a simple thing— so simple we almost overlook it. Such a basic thing, we’re tempted to feel as if we’ve somehow graduated beyond it. And yet without this simple thing, this basic thing —without the life-giving gospel driving and defining both us and our churches—there really isn’t much of anything that makes us distinct and alive, nothing that other people, groups, and organizations aren’t already doing.