Shrunk: Have We Reduced the Scope of the Gospel

My Mission: A Biblical Understanding of My Ministry Mission/Goal

So here is the problem…

Our gospel isn't big enough. Okay now that I have your attention let me clarify what I mean. I am not saying that the gospel of Jesus Christ is too small. That truth proclaimed by the apostles and spread by the blood, sweat, and tears of the church is not too small. In fact, I am saying the very opposite. I am saying we have reduced the gospel to merely an "all-expenses paid" ticket to heaven. The gospel is not merely something to believe and leave. It isn't a set of propositions to check off simply to make sure we are right with God. It is the vital truth that day by day transforms us, "from one degree of glory to another." (2 Cor. 3:18)

Why smaller isn’t better…

The wide expanse of the gospel has been reduced to simply forgiveness for sins. It is undeniable and wonderfully true that by Christ's blood we receive peace with God our creator (Col. 1:20), but the gospel is so much more than that. If it isn’t, the gospel doesn’t have anything to say about the lust we still struggle with. It doesn’t have anything to say to the junior high girl with body image issues. It doesn’t have anything to say about racial tensions existing in our world with increasing violence. If God is only concerned abut the eternal resting place of our immaterial soul, then the church has no motivation to change the world. Fortunately for us, the Biblical gospel is far from shrunk.

The reality…

In the gospel we see God incarnate loving and committing himself to his people who he is redeeming. In the gospel we see God reconciling all of creation to himself. In the gospel we see the invisible God made visible. The gospel is God showing the world who he is and what he has done with explicit clarity that we can touch and experience.

My passion…

In countless conversations with students, church members, and even my own family I have realized that so many consider God to be at best distant and at worst absent. The gospel, and by this I mean the true gospel, says that cannot be the case. The gospel reveals a God who has come down and experienced the pain in our lives. The gospel proves God's love for us by the sacrifice of his own safety and security. The gospel says God is not distantly watching the world burn but actually entering into it to redeem it. In short, the gospel propels the church forward to change the world. My passion is to make the truth of the gospel a reality in every area of people's lives. This is called gospel transformation.

How it's done...

Gospel transformation occurs when we look at ourselves less and Jesus more. Instead of pulling ourselves up by our moral bootstraps, gospel transformation causes people to look at Jesus more. I hope to present the love and sacrifice of Jesus so vividly and poignantly that a young man will fall more in love with him than his computer screen or that a young girl will have her identity shaped by what her God did for her more than what a others think her body should look like. When the truth of the gospel is really grasped, we cannot be the same.

What to do…

The transformation that occurs form a vivid reception of the gospel is my passion. However, it is not just mine. The church for thousands of years has chosen to let the work of Jesus shape every area of their lives. I must ask you though, will you let it shape your life? Are you guilty of viewing the gospel as merely your ticket into heaven? From firsthand experience, Jesus is more than that. He is the God who cares, loves, and desires to transform us through what he has done on the cross. The gospel is the first, middle, and last piece of our salvation.

Tags: gospel, gospel transformation, grow, learn, Jesus, behold, become, display, passion, salvation, gospel growth