“Being gospel-centered actually involves two things. First, it means being word-centered because the gospel is a word–the gospel is news, a message. Second, it means being mission-centered because the gospel is a word to be proclaimed–the gospel is good news, a missionary message.”
- Tim Chester & Steve Timmis, Total Church, 16.
I want people to awake to the reality that God is the center of the universe. He is the center of everything. We exist for Him. This reality would be horrible news if God were self-centered, unloving, endlessly wrath-filled, unimaginative, and dull. But this is not the case. The God of the universe is loving, creative, amazing, awe-inspiring, truthful, and gracious. He created all things for a purpose. Even our lives. Everything is leading somewhere. In this universe, God has determined that our actions have meaning. The things we do really matter. This is why the universe is in disrepair, because our original parents – Adam and Eve – disobeyed God and left everyone for all time to deal with the consequences. But thankfully God is on mission to undo those consequences. He will save anyone from the consequences of Adam and Eve (i.e. – sin) if they will call on Jesus’ name after hearing the gospel (that is, the story of Jesus’ salvation-providing life, death, and resurrection). God saves those who accept His gospel, and one result of this acceptance is discovery of the true meaning of life. The meaning of life is to know God and join Him on mission. This missional lifestyle is enabled through the death of Jesus, and empowered by the Holy Spirit. God-followers understand that we exist to know God, love Him, spread His fame, share His gospel, enjoy His joy, and demonstrate true humanity to the masses.
As I’ve said previously, I’m in the beginning stages of planting a church in Nashville Tennessee. That being the case, I’ve been reading everything about the subject that I can get my hands on as I prayerfully formulate the vision for the church. Deep Church by Jim Belcher was helpful. Vintage Church by Mark Driscoll is a wonderful book. Francis Chan’s Forgotten God provided a needed reminder that I must (and frankly long to) operate out the of the power that only the Holy Spirit provides. And my latest read, Church Planter by Darrin Patrick, has been a much needed encouragement and reminder about what it is I’m supposed to be doing.
Patrick lays out the book in three sections: The Man, The Message, and The Mission. I immediately connected with the first section. Personally speaking, I needed to be reminded and encouraged about my call to ministry and my call to church planting. Patrick helped me to do this. Section two of the book, the Message, was a good reminder of what the gospel is and how it needs to be preached. I was less moved by this section of the book, but simply because most of its content is material that I’ve been swimming in for quite some time. Section three was my second favorite part of the book (after section one). I grew up hearing only a 50% gospel message. I mean, I grew up hearing how Jesus died and rose again and how that should transform me morally, but I heard very little about how that message is supposed to send us on mission into our cities and communities. The mission I mainly heard was, “tell people how to get saved.” But the culture-transforming, missional-lifestyle aspects of the gospel were rarely touched upon. And yet the Bible calls it the “gospel of the kingdom.” It’s a message about how to be saved yes, but the saved are sent on mission to not only preach salvation but transform cultures and communities and families. I don’t want to say that I never heard anything of this sort growing up, but it definitely wasn’t a key feature of the Christianity that I was accustomed to. Men like Driscoll and Keller and Patrick continue to add clarity to my thinking in this area.
This is a great book, and honestly it’s usefulness goes way beyond church planting. If church members read this book and embraced its words, Godly pastors would rejoice at the wave of momentum that would occur.
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