At The Journey we are looking at Acts and wrestling through what it looks like to be a 1st Century church in the 21st century. I am amazed that 120 people unleashed by the gospel changed the world… through love they conquered the Empire. What Happened? THE GOSPEL! The first Christians believed that Jesus's resurrection has implications for the entire universe… the renewal and redemption of all things.
Our problem today is that you could ask 100 Christians what is the gospel and get many different answers. The gospel has become our ticket to heaven, a religious belief, personal and individualistic, obeying rules or attending a church… sorry that is not the gospel.
I grew up believing the gospel was very personal, I sinned and needed Jesus to forgive me, so if I pray this prayer he will forgive my sin and I can spend eternity with him in heaven one day. The problem was not me having a home in heaven but being disconnected from the most amazing person ever – JESUS! It is not about heaven but a Kingdom where he reigns and rules. His Kingdom is not about a future hope but a current reality – What do homes, neighbourhoods, schools, work places look like when his reign and rule is established. The gospel is much more than you being happy or you having your ticket to heaven. The Gospel changes everything! How you spend your money, sex life, relationships, shopping, work…
Here are some thoughts on what the gospel is by Jared Wilson.(really clear and balanced) My hope is that the gospel will not just be something we believe… our ticket to heaven. BUT will have the traction of the early church and impact every area of our lives.
"Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, "Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead."
– James 2:15-17
"The gospel of first importance is the historical announcement of what Christ has done. And this has eternally transformative ramifications and implications for not just our personal selves but the world itself.
What I mean is, if the kingdom is inaugurated — and it is — it means that we who are saved by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone to God's glory alone are citizens of heaven now (which is also something Paul calls us). And this means that "laying up treasures in heaven" isn't about thinking of clouds and harp-playing babies but participating in the ongoing inauguration of the kingdom even as its consummation rushes to us. It means "rehearsing heaven" now, because heaven is now.
The answer to the question is this: The missional church's scope of salvation will determine the scope of its mission. Is Jesus saving souls but damning creation? Or is he saving souls not just for their escape from hell but to be the princes under his kingship over a coming new heavens and earth, the restoration of the brokenness of all things?
He is making all things new. And this starts with hearts that by the power of the gospel trust Christ and extends to the creation he gives these hearts to steward.
When we err, as we often do, it is in the swing of the pendulum. The two great failures of the evangelical church today are failures of the highest magnitude: neglected proclamation of the gospel and refused embodiment of the gospel.
We have settled for wowing both sheep and goats and wind up ministering to neither.
We do not preach the gospel with conviction and regularity.
And we do not give ourselves away.
We are legalists (for that is what you call someone who does not preach the gospel but insists on Christian behaviorism, even if it's framed as ending poverty and healing the sick), and we are self-idolaters (for that is what you call someone who cares more about having their own needs met than about meeting the needs of others).
Settling for either/or is not kingdom work either.
We must embrace both gospel-driven proclamation and gospel-driven servanthood, for both are vital to the ministry of reconciliation. Too many of us are opting for one or the other, and far too many are actually doing neither.
Our world is at war. There is no square inch of this world which isn't claimed by God and counter-claimed by Satan.
The gospel is good news to those who are perishing, but it is foolishness to them too, so we must not lose heart or lose hope or lose our nerve.
Jesus is King, now and forever. The work of the kingdom will lay waste to the gates of hell, but if you are neither speaking Jesus nor being Jesus, you will be part of the detritus left behind.
The situation is too dire to think a cool video and a rockin' praise band will suffice. Our good intentions are worthless if we are not intentional about them.
I like to think that the missional church's proclamation ought to be a two-fisted gospel. One fist to take out the prince of the power of the air with the revolutionary news that the risen Christ is Lord, and one fist to bring justice to the captives with the embodied news that God is love.
Our mission will look like our gospel.
So they set out and went from village to village, preaching the gospel and healing people everywhere.
– Luke 9:6