Living out the Gospel: Part 1 - Introduction

What is the Gospel? How do we share it with others? What affect should it have on our lives when we become followers of Christ? What part does the Gospel play in the lives of those who have been Christian for years? These questions have been coming to mind a great deal lately and I have found myself rethinking the common view of the Gospel message in the evangelical church. These next few posts will be an attempt to journey through a process of understanding what the Gospel really is and what we should expect as a result.

The journey into this study started at the beginning of my seminary career, but has not been happening in earnest until the last few months. My upbringing took place in a Baptist church that held to a very typical view of the Gospel – that Christ dies for our sins and if we just believe in him and pray to ask for forgiveness, we will receive salvation. That is the extent. That is what was taught. Then afterward came a long but unwritten list of do’s and don’ts, typical of those churches coming out of the fundamentalist movement. Though the church taught salvation was eternally secure, this holiness view made us live in fear of having “not experienced true salvation” when we first accepted Christ. We lived on constant fear of ensuring our assurance and wariness to never backslide.

Then during my years of college I began to seriously question this “legalistic” form of a baptistic faith. I began to understand the role of grace and forgiveness, that it wasn’t about rules and regulations, but simply living to please Christ in everything we do. While I am convinced this set me on the path to where I am today, I still did not see how the Gospel actually was a part of this “post-salvation-experience” life. The Gospel only applied to those in need of salvation and those who are in process of obtaining salvation.

Then came seminary, and the key word of these years in my experience has been “relationship.” The Christian faith is being redefined from first being a religion, to then being a simple world-view or ‘way of life’ to now being about relationship. This created a significant conflict in my mind as I sought to continue in the journey of separating myself from my once legalistic religion. Then added into the discussion of relationship is the word community. I have come to believe both are important, both are results of the call of the Gospel, but they do not constitute the Gospel.

One last thing; influences. I would like to send out some thank-yous because I have not been going through this thought process alone. Many have stimulated thoughts, guided my thinking, and given feedback. Others have directed me toward some great books on the subject which I will list below. Of particular thanks, one goes to Dr. Roger Peugh at Grace Theological Seminary. He has been thinking through these things for years and has stimulated a great deal of my own thinking on the subject. I will not claim that my conclusions and his are the same, only he can answer that. But he has helped direct me toward particular Scriptures and other books along the way. Also, thanks to a fellow blogger, Jonathan Erdman, for also stimulating many thoughts about my faith. Again, I do not agree with everything he says and writes, but he challenges me on a regular basis. Also, thanks to many classmates and small groups I’ve been in whom I have bounced ideas off of and have also received other ideas from. The number of people in this list could be numerous.

Here are the books that have been helpful along the way (and of which I am sure I will be quoting in the following posts): The Lost Art of Disciple Making, The Master Plan of Evangelism, Mentoring for Mission, Love One Another: Becoming the Church Jesus Longs For, and Sacred Marriage.