Pursuing Gospel-Centeredness, #4
March 18, 2008
Joe,
It seems like a long time ago when I wrote a couple of posts in response to a comment from Will on how to help others become more gospel-centered. I still hope to write a few more on this subject, but here is something that has been especially significant for me over the last week or two:
Beware of being a Pharisee about the Gospel.
I know these two things appear contradictory, and they are. A Pharisee is by nature not gospel-centered, and a true embrace of the Gospel crushes the roots of Pharaseeism (is that a word?). Yet I have seen in my own heart the subtle way that a genuine desire to promote the glory of the Gospel can turn into a cold-hearted, arrogant condemnation of those who don’t meet your standards of gospel-centeredness.
When I say beware of being a Pharisee about the Gospel, I mean beware of looking down upon others and casting judgment upon those people who you think are not as gospel-centered as they should be. In reality, none of us are as gospel-centered as we should be. But I’ve sensed in me and in others who I minister to a tendency toward pride, an attitude that we have now ‘arrived’ because we know the centrality of the gospel for all of life. We hear sermons and grumble that they are not gospel-centered enough. We look down on certain church leaders or authors or small-group members because ‘they just don’t make the gospel central enough.’
Even our renewed our hearts can still be so deceptive that we take something as precious as the gospel, and use a commitment to certain doctrines about Christ’s death and resurrection as a way of gaining favor with God, and therefore cast judgmental attitudes toward those who haven’t embraced what we have.
The Gospel tells us that there is absolutely nothing we can do to merit the favor of a holy and just God…and even passion for the gospel can be something we use to make ourselves feel better than other people, even other Christians. Nothing is farther from the true spirit of the gospel than to use the gospel to elevate yourself or your knowledge above those of other people.
In the same way that many ‘Calvinists’ turn off other Christians to those doctrines because of their condescending attitude toward those who don’t believe like them, so also can genuine lovers of the gospel distort the gospel by acting condescending toward people who aren’t as gospel-centered as they think they are. Few things will make the gospel as unattractive as a person who uses it to feel superior to others who they regard as ‘unenlightened’.
So beware of this, brothers and sisters. I have been placing a high emphasis on the centrality of the gospel lately, to make the main thing the main thing. With all my heart, I believe that is right, and should be contended for at all costs. Yet I have seen in my own soul this tendency toward becoming a Pharisee about it. If my discernment is accurate, I also see it in others who I minister to. It is ugly, and it is an awful distortion of true gospel-centeredness. It will only hinder the spread of the gospel we so long to see cherished.
For the sake of the gospel, let’s resist it at all costs!
Larry
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Thanks Larry!
Hey Lar,
Good post. Just so you know, the spelling is Pharisaism.
Lord willing, I will weight in with a gospel-centered thought soon.
Peace,
Joe
“Nothing is farther from the true spirit of the gospel than to use the gospel to elevate yourself or your knowledge above those of other people. ”
Well said, Larry!
If we truly love the gospel, we will develop a love for people similiar to that of Christ. He continues to share the gospel with me every day. He is patient even though I try to distort the truth of the gospel, every day. And every day I take pride in my salvation, as if I could do anything to save myself. For this, Jesus convicts me and humbles me again, taking me to the foot of the cross.
Pride is an insidious sin that seems to underlie many of my other sins. Thank God for the cross, the destroyer of pride. I guess a practical application of what you are saying is, when I don’t “in humility consider others better” than myself, I should let the light of scripture shine on my heart, reminding me of how wretched I am. Then I can look to the light, Jesus Christ. He is my only hope, my only salvation from utter depravity.
When those who misunderstand the gospel see the power of my Savior to humble someone as prideful as myself, perhaps then they will understand. No one will be able to see the gospel, no matter how accurately I state my theology, if I wrap the light of Jesus in the darkness of my pride.
Will
‘No one will be able to see the gospel, no matter how accurately I state my theology, if I wrap the light of Jesus in the darkness of my pride.’
Now THAT is well said! Thanks Will,
Larry