There is no shortage of current books related to the “gospel” in some form or another. That fact in itself might have kept me from this excerpt that Nathan Finn shares from J. D. Greear’s new book Gospel: Recovering the Power that Made Christianity Revolutionary.
Recently, I talked with a little old lady who had been my Sunday school teacher at the very traditional church in which I grew up. She said, “You know, as I lose more and more friends to heaven, I often wonder what it is really like up there and what I should be looking forward to. I know they say there are streets of gold, but that doesn’t seem to excite me very much. The one thing I really want to do is see Jesus.” This lady has never heard of John Piper and has no idea what the Gospel Coalition is, but she has been changed by the gospel. She loves Jesus, and that is the whole point of gospel-centeredness.
There are many little old ladies serving in church nurseries who may not understand how to articulate the theories of gospel-centeredness or have the ingenuity to dazzle our minds with psychological insights, cultural observations, and Christocentric interpretations of obscure Old Testament passages. Their hearts, however, burn with love for Jesus and overflow with gratefulness for His grace.
Their humble, gospel-rich love for God is worth more than all the books you or I can write on this subject.
So don’t be quick to judge them. Be humbled by them. Mastering the theory of gospel-centeredness is not the point. Loving the God of the gospel is.
Glad I didn’t miss that! One of the things I fear is developing educational and theological snobbery – primarily because it can cause me to miss the point: loving the God of the Gospel!
You can read the entire excerpt here.
