Two Never Questions that Never Go Away (Part 1)
A few months ago, our elders were dealing with a painful, delicate situation. As I thought about the dilemma we were facing as brothers in Christ and leaders of our fellowship, I realized there were two questions that ought to be at the forefront of our considerations:
1. What does the Gospel mean in this situation?
2. What does the Gospel require of us in this situation?
I’ve been thinking about those two questions since then, and I’m beginning to realize that these two questions serve as the “operating system” for the thought life of a growing Christ-follower. The core of Christian faith and practice, the rumination that runs in the background of a healthy Christian spirituality, is the life-long process of understanding these two questions and slowly discovering the implications that they bring with them.
The Gospel is the glorious Good News about who Jesus is and what he has done for us: Jesus is God’s Son who invaded human history, lived and taught about the Kingdom, died in the place of us sinners, rose from the dead, and is coming again.
It is that Good News that casts a bright shadow over everything we think about and everything we do in the Christian life. Everything we think about springs from that Good News, and everything we do is in response to that Good News.
For the Apostle Paul, the Gospel was the explosion that turned his life upside down. So it should come as no surprise that these two questions about the Gospel frame all of Paul’s epistles. He always – always, not just usually – devotes the first part of his letters to the first question, “What does the Gospel mean?”
In the opening chapters of his letters, Paul always explores the vast and astonishing implications of the Gospel for the way we think; the way we make sense of life; the way we understand who God is, who Jesus is, what God has given us in Christ, and who we are in Christ.
It is only after he has laid that groundwork – after he has explored the joyous implications of the Gospel – that Paul turns to ethical exhortations. There’s always a turning point in Paul’s letters where he says something like this: “In light of what God has given us in Christ, here’s how we ought to respond.”
So I’ve been thinking this week about what that first question means; what a Gospel-focus means in various situations. It has been a fruitful exercise to consider, for instance…
1. What does the Gospel (Christ’s life, death, resurrection, and imminent return) mean when believers are in conflict with one another?
The Gospel means that my conflict with another brother or sister in Christ is a conflict between adopted siblings who will live in the Kingdom together forever. It means that the brother or sister whose behavior is outrageously offensive to me is someone for whom Christ died, someone whose grievous sins God has forgiven, someone God loves more than any other dad could ever love his kids.
The Gospel means that I simply don’t have the option of letting unresolved conflict become the toxic weed of bitterness in my heart, contaminating my relationship with someone whom God so loves, someone for whom Christ suffered so greatly and so willingly.
2. What does the Gospel (Christ’s life, death, resurrection, and imminent return) mean when catastrophe turns life upside down and hope seems to be lost?
The Gospel means that God is always at work, even in the darkest and most bewildering situation. I’ve long believed that we must discipline ourselves to contemplate questions about suffering in the shadow of the Cross, in that moment when all hope was lost and Jesus the Messiah was dead, the apparent victim of Jewish betrayal and Roman brutality. If God’s plan to bless the world included that unspeakable tragedy, I must not think the tragedy I’m facing is outside His control and plan. He’s at work even in this, and He knows what He’s doing.
The Gospel also means that this is not all there is. Jesus’s miracles during his time on earth and especially his resurrection from the dead all point to the Day when he will return and set all things right. The same Jesus who promised he would rise from the dead promised he would return; I’ve got to hold on to that promise.
It is when I am forgetful of all this, when I have lost my Gospel-focus, that I am tempted to despair; I am tempted to look at the world through dung-colored glasses.
I think you can see what I mean: contemplating the significance of the Gospel is a deep well of life-changing implications. It will take me literally the rest of my life to think this through. And I believe that one of the wonders of the next life will be our becoming aware of the cascading implications of the Gospel as we see more clearly what God has given us in Christ.
Our homework, then, is to continue along these lines. There are plenty of other questions we can consider, and it will take us the rest of our lives to think through them:
What does the Gospel (Christ’s life, death, resurrection, and imminent return) mean in the way I interact with people who don’t know Christ?
What does the Gospel (Christ’s life, death, resurrection, and imminent return) mean when I am deeply grieved over my own sin?
What does the Gospel (Christ’s life, death, resurrection, and imminent return) mean in the way I pray?
What does the Gospel (Christ’s life, death, resurrection, and imminent return) mean in the way I read the Bible?
What does the Gospel (Christ’s life, death, resurrection, and imminent return) mean when I feel lonely?
What does the Gospel (Christ’s life, death, resurrection, and imminent return) mean when my children rebel? When they suffer?
What other situations call for a Gospel-focus? What does the Gospel mean in those situations?
In a future post of Discipleship Weekly, we’ll explore the other question: “What does the Gospel require
of us?”
Until then, persevere.
Paul Pyle
Discipleship Pastor