Several years ago The Gospel Coalition began to feel the need for gospel-centered teaching in the Spanish-speaking world. This led to a number of conversations that resulted in a new website, Coalición por El Evangelio. A truly contextualized ministry, Coalición por El Evangelio is curated by a Spanish-speaking team and produces its own original content by Spanish-speaking contributors.
This year, TGC will be hosting its first Spanish conference, Pastoreando a la Iglesia en el Siglo XXI (Pastoring the Church in the 21st Century), which will take place on April 12–13, just before the The Gospel Coalition National Conference.
I recently corresponded with Don Carson about TGC’s vision for reaching the Spanish-speaking world and the importance of building alliances around the gospel.
Why does TGC want to do a conference for the Spanish-speaking world?
The Gospel Coalition is deeply committed to expounding the gospel of Jesus Christ and him crucified. We do not think of the gospel as a little thing in the Bible, but the very center of the Word of God; we do not think of the gospel as that which tips us into the kingdom, to be followed by a lot of discipleship courses with no connection with the gospel, but as the power of God unto salvation. We do not think of the gospel as an optional extra for nice Christians, but as that which brings glory to God in Christ and in Christ’s blood-bought church. This gospel is not for Anglos only. How can it be, when it is the only message by which men and women everywhere must be saved? The Spanish-speaking world needs this gospel every bit as much as the English-speaking world; all of us stand in need of the grace of God. For TGC to restrict its mission to English-speakers only would be unbearably selfish. Like Paul, we see ourselves as debtors to others. A Spanish-language conference is merely one step we want to take to encourage Spanish-language brothers and sisters in Christ with the same responsibility to promote the gospel that all of us have.
One of the topics we’ll see in the conference is the role of alliances built around the gospel. Why is this an important topic for the Church in Latin America today?
An alliance that crosses denominational and ethnic barriers, but that is gathered around the truths and practices of the gospel, brings with it the strengths of numbers, shared vision, mutual encouragement, and shared devotion to the Savior and to one another. It anticipates the oneness of the people of God for which Jesus prays in John 17, and which we shall experience perfectly in the new heaven and the new earth. The heart of biblically mandated pastoral ministry here and now, of course, is the local church—but where pastors and churches can work together there are things that, by the grace of God, we can accomplish that we could never tackle on our own. These things include training, mature exposition, mutual encouragement, great outpourings of corporate worship, and learning from one another to the praise of God’s glorious grace.
What advice would you give to a pastor who is looking for relationships with other pastors for gospel-centered ministry?
Form your strongest pastoral relationships with those who have the most profound grasp of the gospel, with those whose ministry is profoundly Bible-based, with those who are passionate about God and his glory, with those who understand the cross and resurrection of Jesus and who take up their cross and follow him, with those who, like Jesus himself, weep over the city and hunger to see men and women converted.
Is there enough evidence for us to believe the Gospels?
In an age of faith deconstruction and skepticism about the Bible’s authority, it’s common to hear claims that the Gospels are unreliable propaganda. And if the Gospels are shown to be historically unreliable, the whole foundation of Christianity begins to crumble.
