Editors’ note: We’re excited to see the first event of a new TGC regional chapter this April. TGC Inland Northwest will host an evening event with Alistair Begg speaking on the centrality of the gospel in the local church on Wednesday, April 20. If you’re in the area, click here for directions and info. We’re thankful for what God is doing in the Inland Northwest to keep the gospel where it belongs.
One Sunday early in my ministry, a young Bible college student approached me after a sermon I’d just preached on 1 Timothy 3. He beat around the bush a bit, but then came right out with it: “Where was Jesus?” My sermon had been a good explanation of the meaning and function of deacons in the church, but had apparently neglected to mention Jesus!
Where was Jesus? Where was the gospel? Where was the life-giving, life-changing message of grace that ought to be the heartbeat of the church? Years later, I’m convinced these are the questions every congregation should be asking. The gospel of Jesus Christ needs to be at the center of our ministries.
Here are three reasons why.
1. The Gospel Is for Maturity
Out of a good desire for growth and maturity, it’s tempting to focus our attention on our own lives. We assess our relationships. We evaluate our priorities. We may even zero in on our own heart issues like pride, lust, envy, or greed. And while it’s healthy to realize our own need for change, it’s possible to divert our eyes and hopes from what truly transforms.
Paul wanted the same thing we want in our own lives and churches—maturity. But to bring that about, he directed the gaze of his people toward Christ, not their own cares. He described his ministry like this: “[Christ] we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ” (Col. 1:28).
We know Paul desired to preach nothing but “Christ and him crucified” (1 Cor. 2:2), but do we subtly assume this kind of preaching is really for the unconverted? Paul had a different understanding. He was convinced the same gospel that saves the lost also sanctifies the found. Maturity is the goal, and the proclamation of Christ is the means. He insisted that the spiritual sight of Christ brings growth, vitality, and transformation to the soul.
Paul proclaimed the glories of the King so that believers would grow. We should do no less.
2. The Gospel Is for Monday
I use “Monday” to refer to the run-of-the-mill, normal things of life. We wake up, get kids ready for school, go to work, do laundry, meet with friends, and on and on. Perhaps we even grow tired of these ordinary rhythms because we’d rather spend time focusing our minds on Christ. But the dichotomy between real life and devotion simply isn’t biblical. Paul called the church to appropriate the reality of Christ in all of life: “Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving” (Col. 2:6–7).
Paul liked to talk about our “walking” as Christians. Perhaps because it invites us to think about where our feet actually go. If you’re like me, the path isn’t all that glamorous. Sometimes, it’s downright hard. But that’s the point, isn’t it? We reapply the truths of the gospel by faith every day, sometimes every moment. Again we receive Christ as the answer to our deepest longings. Again we exercise trust in him for our security and satisfaction. Again we renew ourselves in our newfound identity in God’s resurrected Son. We walk in him by constantly filling our souls with the truths about him. And that’s what Mondays, or any other day, ought to be.
3. The Gospel Is for Ministry
If all this is true, then the gospel is also for ministry. Our churches can easily get enamored with other values (dynamic teaching, engaging worship, and so on). But when we focus on what could go well in the church, we lose sight of what must be deep in the church. Paul reminded the Colossians of what ought to be present in their own ministry to one another: “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God” (Col. 3:16).
The gospel message should pulsate through the community. It must overflow from the worship, the teaching, the admonition, and the praises. Every area of personal ministry is to be grounded in the good news of the bloody cross and the empty tomb. The average member, therefore, is to ensure gospel saturation in the local body. This is what ministry is, after all—one believer offering up all they have in Christ to another hungry soul. And all of it done with gratitude in our hearts to God. How could it be otherwise?
One Rightful Place
The question was a good one: “Where was Jesus?”
What I failed to see then is that the gospel has only one rightful place in the local church—the very center.
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.
