The Gospel: Keeping the Main Thing the Main Thing (Part 2)

D. A. Carson gave the first plenary address to the Gospel Coalition conference under the rubric, “What is the Gospel?” This is a summary outline of his talk, which is available online here:

http://www.theresurgence.com/don_carson_2007-05-23_audio_what_is_the_gospel

Mistaken approaches to the Gospel. The Gospel is not:

1. A narrow set of teachings about Jesus, his death and resurrection that “tip people into the kingdom,” after which theology and other things come later.
2. The first and second great commandments (Love God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength; Love your neighbor as yourself.) They are central, but they’re not the Gospel.
3. The ethical teaching of Jesus. But abstracted from his passion and resurrection rests on two mistakes:
   • In the first century there was not the Gospel of Matthew, the Gospel of Mark, etc. It was “The Gospel” according to Matthew, “The Gospel,” according to Mark. One gospel, various perspectives.
   • Studying Jesus’s teaching while making the cross peripheral reduces the gospel to mere obedience and duty. This is catastrophic.

   
   4. Assuming the gospel while concentrating on other issues:marriage, theology, whatever.Note that people are most likely to learn what the teacher is excited about. If the gospel is merely assumed while relatively peripheral issues ignite our passion, we will teach a new generation to downplay the gospel and focus on the periphery, be those matters of evangelism, justice, confronting Islam, or what have you.“It’s easy to sound prophetic from the margins, but harder to be prophetic from the center.”

The gospel by which you are saved is bound up in the fact that Christ died for our sins, was buried, raised on the third day and appeared to many people - the apostles and others.

Eight summarizing words. The Gospel is:

1. Christological.
   • Not a bland theism or general pantheism.
     
   • Only Jesus is the name by which we can be saved. Jesus alone reconciles us to God.
   • “The gospel is not preached if Christ is not preached,” but not just the person of Christ, but his atoning death and resurrection.
2. Theological.
   • God raised Christ Jesus from the dead.
   • God’s purpose was for Christ to die and rise, not mere death, but that he died for our sins,
     and rose for our justification
     
   • God’s wrath against sin. Our sin problem is personal. God pronounces the sentence of death against sin.
   • God is the one whom we have offended, who must be appeased. And what makes God most angry is idolatry, the “de-godding” of God, the putting of something else in God’s place. God is still jealous. Repentance is necessary because the coming of the king brings judgment as well as blessing.
3. Biblical. Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and was raised according to the Scriptures.
4. Apostolic. Listen to the sequence of pronouns Paul uses in 1Cor 15:11 “Whether it was I (an apostle) or they (the apostles) this is what we (the apostles) preach, and this is what you believed. I, we, they, you. This Gospel is apostolic (Carson credits J.R.W. Stott for this sequence of pronouns)
5. Historical.
   • 1Cor 15 specifies both Jesus’s burial (death) and resurrection. Jesus’s death and resurrection are tied together in history. Any approach that attempts to pit them against one another is silly.
   • The manner in which we access the events of Jesus’s death, burial and resurrection is the same as we have with any historical event: the remains and writings of those who were there. This is why the matter of being witnesses was so important.
   • The central Christian claims are irreducibly historical.Unlike all other religions, the historical uniqueness of Christ is non-negotiable, not just the historicity of the man Jesus, but the historical claims of his death for our sins, his burial and resurrection. God does not give a revelation to Jesus which Jesus passes on, rather Jesus is the revelation of God. The revelation cannot be separated from Christ. To attempt to do so is incoherent. This is a historical revelation, and there are historical events that cannot be separated, chiefly his death for our sins, burial and resurrection. These are truths of history.
   • The word “historical” is sometimes slippery. Some think that it means those events which have causes that are located only in natural things. Such a definition excludes the miraculous. We insist that historical means events that took place in history, whether from natural causes or through God’s supernatural intervention in power, operating in history.
6. Personal. The death and resurrection of Jesus Christ are not merely historical events, or merely theological precepts. They set forth a way of personal salvation. Paul says this is the gospel which you received and on
   which you take your stand. This is not an abstract. It is personal.
7. Universal. The gospel is a comprehensive vision of a new humanity drawn from every tribe and nation. It is not universal in that it includes everyone without exception; but it is universal in the sense that it is for all ethnic and other groups.
8. Eschatological. Some of the blessings Christians receive are blessings of the last day brought into our time. Among these are justification – we are justified (fait accompli) and we will be justified. We look forward
   to an eschatological fulfillment of the transformation that has already begun in us. We cannot focus only on the
   blessings those who are in Christ enjoy in this age, but there are greater fulfillments yet to come.

Five clarifying sentences

1. This gospel is normally disseminated in proclamation (preaching, heraldic ministry). The good news must be
   announced, heralded, explained.
2. This gospel is fruitfully received in authentic, persevering faith, faith that continues and brings forth results.
3. This gospel is properly disclosed in a context of personal self-humiliation. People respond to it by becoming aware of their own insufficiency and helplessness. “I am not what I want to be, nor what I ought to be, nor what I will be, but by the grace of God I am what I am.” John Newton. Humility. Gratitude. Dependence on Christ, contrition – these
   are the attitudes of the truly converted. “Proud Christian” is an unthinkable oxymoron.
4. This gospel is rightly asserted to be the confession of the whole church. Of course what the whole church, or all the churches are doing, is not necessarily right. Otherwise there would be no need for an Athanasius or a Luther. Hidebound tradition is not the gospel. But also be suspicious of churches who proudly flaunt how different they are from what has gone before.
5. This gospel is boldly advancing under the contested reign and inevitable victory of Jesus the king. All of God’s sovereignty is mediated through kind Jesus: All authority is given to me in heaven and on earth… the name that is above every name… he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. There is still resistance, but one day the final enemy, death itself, will die, and God will be all in all. Therefore, stand firm, let nothing move you, always give yourselves fully to the Lord, knowing that your work for him is not in vain.

One evocative summary: The gospel is not exclusively cognitive. It is also affective and active. The word of the cross is not only God’s wisdom which the world considers folly, but it is God’s power, which the word considers weakness. This gospel transforms us – not by attempting to abstract social principles from the gospel, not by imposing new levels of rules, still less by focus on the periphery in the vain attempt to sound prophetic, but precisely by preaching and teaching the blessed gospel of our glorious redeemer.

Catching up with Jesus: South Surrey

God has guided myself and Erin (my wife) to many different places in life - growing up in Ajax Ontario, moving out to Vancouver BC in 2004 to do a Masters degree at Regent College - at that time I started interning at South Delta Baptist Church - during my time in the awesome community I have met some of the most amazing, gifted and wonderful people I have ever had the pleasure of knowing. 

I have had the pleasure to serve the people of SDBC as pastor: preaching, teaching, shepherding, leading and living side by side with them through some amazing and at times challenging years. The church has now entered a new phase which has brought with it a new phase for most people who work at the church - with the arrival of our new lead pastor Paul Johnson God brought a capacity for a new vision - which includes, among other great and

 extremely faith-based ventures, church planting. 

After much prayer, and conversation with friends, fellow staff and members of the SDBC church family, Erin and I have step out in faith toward the next phase God has for us as a missionary couple serving Jesus in the world - that I would lead a church campus in South Surrey BC, a town 25 minutes drive away from the main campus of SDBC (Tsawwassen) - The church leadership and members of the congregation have been developing a plan over the last year (which included a team to develop the plan and proposal for the campus, Church Planting Assessment that Erin and I went through in September) that was rolled out to the larger church community three weeks ago which had amazing support from the congregation! 

That was Erin and I's last major thing to wait for before moving out to South Surrey - as missionaries to a culture it is important that pastors and church planters live in the community they are shepherding and trying to reach with the gospel of Jesus - and it is important to live in the community for as long as possible before one thinks about launching a campus there - for

 me this was a non-negotiable form the start - something you don't even think about - and as much as Erin and I love Tsawwassen if we were going to be doing a campus in Surrey then that needed to be where we lived as soon as possible - 

The decision to do this was not easy - Over the last year I wrestled with it- I love the ministry I am privileged to lead at SDBC - I get to teach and preach every week sometimes at both church services, I work in a beautiful office that has a view to the mountains, in a small town where everyone really does know my name (whether I know theirs or not!) - but most of all I get to minister to and beside the most amazing and encouraging (yet challenging) group of Young Adults I have ever been exposed to in my life - So when I felt God two and half years ago nudge me in this direction I questioned, waited and looked for other confirmations - Over the last years I have talked extensively and prayed through it with those I love, trust and respect - and even in times of doubt I could not get away from one thing: the calling. God has called me to do this - and as pastors have reminded me as I looked them in the face after years of pain and hardship in ministry - sometimes all you have is the call.

I will blog about the experiences I have as a team (Core Launch Team) and I plan, prepare, pray and position ourselves to follow and join Jesus on the mission he is on in South Surrey - the plan is that we publically launch the church by March or so of 2010 but there is so much work to be done before then - we will be a campus of SDBC (with an incarnational name specific to South Surrey) which will exist under the eldership of SDBC - we will be one family - sharing stories, resource, people and leaders - doing our best to expand the kingdom of God around the GVA in communities of love, faith and hope - faithfully preaching and living for the fame and glory of the name of Jesus to the glory of God! 

I write this as I sit in my new (rented) living room in South Surrey, in our beautiful new townhouse (never been lived in before) boxes and stuff everywhere - a week of moving, frustration and many ups and downs - but now here we sit, already having met many wide-eyed neighbors (all young families!) who are really looking for community - a great and wonderful part of the gospel message of Jesus which the church is about - gospel-centered community - a family, a house, a temple, a body - all images which are communal from start to finish and our great hope is that Jesus uses us - sinful messed up, mistake ridden people to reach some of theses wonderful people by any means necessary for his glory (1 Cor. 9).

The slogan for the city seems fitting for our church, for Erin and I's life - the slogan is "The City of Surrey: the future lives here."

Some Facts about Surrey 

It is BC'a second-largest city by population after the city of Vancouver. The six "town centres" comprising the City of Surrey are: Fleetwood, Whalley/City Centre, Guildford, Newton, Cloverdale, and South Surrey.^[2]

Surrey’s name came from Queen Victoria. She had named New Westminster, thus it is called the Royal City. In England, across the Thames from Westminster is the County of Surrey. It seemed appropriate that across the river from New Westminster there should also be a Surrey. Surrey was named by the first Clerk of the Municipal Council, Mr. H. J. Brewer, around 1880. "Due to the geographic similarity of this district to that of County Surrey in England, in relation to Westminster, I suggest it be named Surrey, British Columbia."

In 2007, the population of Surrey was counted as 423,935 a 17 percent increase from the 2001 population - Vancouver itself boasts of a population of 611,869 - Surrey, many believe, will bypass Vancouver in population in the next five years - it is the second largest city in BC and the fastest growing in the province.

Religious affiliation 

• 25.8% No religious affiliation
• 19.2% Sikh
• 16.2% Roman Catholic
• 11.0% Protestant
• 6.4% Other Christian
• 2.9% Muslim
• 2.8% Hindu
• 1.9% Buddhist

Pastors & Money (Richard Mouw, President of Fuller Theological Seminary)

At a recent gathering of theological educators, I heard a series of three talks on “Money, Sex and Power.” All three presentations were excellent, but it struck me: money is the topic we pay the least attention to in our seminary programs. In the evangelical world where I spend most of my time, we certainly spend a lot of time talking about sex. We argue about it in our denominations and we preach about sexual patterns in our society. We have also become more sensitive to power topics: in recent decades we have become adept at organizing “moral majorities” and “Christian coalitions” to exercise political clout in the public arena.

Money, however, is not a favorite topic. Studies have shown that pastors do not like preaching about financial matters. Nor have they been encouraged to take these issues on by their theological mentors.

There are some obvious reasons for this. Seminary students spend their graduate school years hanging around with people who do not have much money. When they enter ministry they are often still struggling in their own lives to catch up financially, and they do not feel very confident talking about money to their parishioners. And often they come into their ministries after several years in an academic setting where simple-minded comments about “rich capitalists” occur much too frequently.

As a result, preaching about money is often been limited to the periodic sermon about the need to support church programs—so that church members come away with the impression that as long as they make their church pledges they have done their duty as good stewards.

So it is, that during this desperate time people are asking those of us who represent the church, “Where is your God in all of this? Why are you not telling us more about how we can make it through this economic storm? Isn’t it your job to speak truths about the basic issues of life?”

We need to hear these complaints. Thirty years ago, I heard a pastor preach about Jonah. Here we have a prophet of the God of Israel on a ship that has run into a dangerous storm. The prophet is having an intense religious discussion with the vessel’s crew of pagan sailors. We would expect, the preacher said, that the prophet is speaking the truth to folks who are religiously confused. But in this case, the sailors have the best of the argument. They tell the prophet, correctly, that he is being disobedient to the will of God. The preacher’s punchline: sometimes the world preaches important messages to the church.

I’ve been thinking about that punchline as the economic situation has gone from bad to worse in recent months. It isn’t just that churches are not saying enough about the present economic crisis. We have shied away from posing the basic questions about finances in general. Getting Christians to talk to each other about their spending priorities, the things they buy and sell, their attitudes toward possessions, what the Bible says about “the love of money”—in too many churches these have been the taboo topics.

A young Christian business leader told me recently that he and his friends—Christian and non-Christian—are realizing that they had gotten accustomed to putting their trust in progress and growth. They had learned to love luxury. Now all of this was coming apart, and they are being forced to think about what really gives meaning and purpose to their lives.

Those of us who are theologically trained may not be experts on economic systems and personal financial management, but we do know some important things about the underlying issues. The myth of inevitable progress is just that—a myth, and a dangerous one at that. Economic strength can be a false god; we must not give it our ultimate allegiance. Greed destroys souls. The quest for luxury cannot satisfy the deepest longings of the human spirit.

The Jonah story points to a good outcome for the church today. The prophet admitted that he’d abdicated his prophetic role and led the ship into angry waters. We should confess that we are not as prepared as we should be to offer guidance in the “money” dimension of life.

Our failure to speak at length about these matters during our long, past season of prosperity has contributed to the deep distress triggered by this present crisis. The recognition of our shortcomings, though, can be the occasion for an opportunity to new obedience. When people ask us, “Where is your God in all of this mess?” we are given a precious moment to speak words of comfort and guidance to a world that is looking for a place of true safety in the midst of the storm. We should be ready.