This summer we will talk a lot about being Gospel-centered as a church and/or community, and I really want to encourage Gospel-centered living amongst the people in our class.  From time to time you will we get asked by our newcomers, “What exactly does that mean? What does it look like?” Here is a brief explanation.

The Gospel

Before we jump into gospel-centeredness we need to be clear about the gospel itself. In the simplest of terms the gospel is the life, death and resurrection of Jesus that accomplishes redemption and restoration for all who believe and all of creation.  In the simplest way I can state this is the gospel, the “good news,” that God redeems a fallen world by his grace.

Gospel-Centered

Therefore, to be gospel-centered means that that the gospel – and Jesus himself – is our greatest hope and boast, our deepest longing and joy, and our most passionate song and message. It means that the gospel is what defines us as Christians (Gospel Identity), unites us as brothers and sisters (Gospel Community), changes us as sinner/saints and sends us as God’s people on mission (Gospel Practice). When we are gospel-centered the gospel is exalted above every other good thing in our lives and triumphs over every bad thing set against it.  I essentially serves as the only filter by which we view the world in which we interact.

More specifically, the gospel-centered life is a life where a Christian experiences a growing personal reliance on the gospel that protects him from depending on his own religious performance and being seduced and overwhelmed by idols. This summer my want and prayer for each of you is that we become gospel-centered and that the subsequent life produces:

Confidence
When the gospel is central in our lives we have confidence before God – not because of our achievements, but because of Christ’s atonement. We can approach God knowing that he receives us as his children. We do not allow our sins to anchor us to guilt and despair, but their very presence in our lives compels us to flee again and again to Christ for grace that restores our spirits and gives us strength.

Intimacy
When the gospel is central in our lives we have and maintain intimacy with God, not because of our religious performance, but because of Jesus’ priestly ministry. We know that Jesus is our mediator with God the Father and that he has made perfect peace for us through his sacrifice allowing us to draw near to God with the eager expectation of receiving grace, not judgment.

Transformation
When the gospel is central in our lives we experience spiritual transformation, not just moral improvement, and this change does not come about by our willpower, but by the power of the resurrection. Our hope for becoming what God designed and desires for us is not trying harder, but trusting more – relying on his truth and Spirit to sanctify us.

Community 
When the gospel is central in our lives we long for and discover unity with other believers in the local church, not because of any cultural commonality, but because of our common faith and Savior. It is within this covenant community, if the community itself is gospel-centered, that we experience the kind of fellowship that comforts the afflicted, corrects the wayward, strengthens the weak, and encourages the disheartened.

In Galatians, Paul lays down a powerful principle. He deals with Peter’s racial pride and cowardice by declaring that he was not living “in line with the truth of the gospel”. From this we see that the Christian life is a process of renewing every dimension of our life– spiritual, psychological, corporate, social–by thinking, hoping, and living out the “lines” or ramifications of the Gospel. The Gospel is to be applied to every area of thinking, feeling, relating, working, and behaving. The implications and applications of this idea are vast and deep and I pray that they change us throughout this summer.

** Dear reader, this post is meant to engender thought within the Christ follower.  You may find this offensive  but if you do please ask yourself why.  I am not writing this to anger anyone and if I have please accept my deepest apology.**

A little over a week ago I was at work trying to finish up the night and avoid further talk about the now Duke and Duchess of Cambridge (William and Catherine) when I received some text from my wife.

• “President to address nation shortly odd”
•  “Fox [News] is saying [Usama] bin Laden is dead”

I quickly began to internally celebrate, that then spilled over to my coworkers.  We discussed whether or not the text could be true.  I jumped on my phone to find Twitter ablaze with speculations and “proof” one way or another, so I quickly finished my work and jumped into my car and listened to the radio on the way home ( I already listen to talk radio so no need to switch channels).  That night I had not eaten so I dropped by a Burger King drive-through.  Ironically, the young lady who served me told me that she, and some of her relatives had served in the military.  She was really excited to hear our presidents remarks.  I gave her a high five and drove away expectantly.

As I drove I listened intently to the evidence, when I reached home we stayed up for our Presidents speech and then sat and discussed the repercussions with my wife.  At the same time I was reading Twitter feeds and even making some statements myself (wise or not) about the current situation.  Very quickly, between Facebook, Twitter, and the images on the TV, things were becoming disturbing.  My wife and I started to have a conversation that trickled over the next few days on whether our response was right.  It started with relief espoused by the broadcasters, and quickly diminished into wild celebrations, and I quickly started to ask, “Is this celebration more about  ‘Justice’ or ‘Vengeance'”?

Justice is the concept of moral rightness based on ethics, rationality, law, natural law, religion, fairness, or equity, along with the punishment of the breach of said ethics.

Vengeance is a harmful action against a person or group in response to a grievance, be it real or perceived. It is also called “payback”.  Although revenge resembles some conceptions of justice, vengeance is usually depicted as more injurious and punitive as opposed to being harmonious and restorative.

Usama bin Laden was the one human being most responsible for a series of terrorist attacks, including the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States — attacks that left more than 3,000 American civilians dead. He claimed such responsibility and pledged future attacks. The death of bin Laden was fully justified as an act of war, but not as an act of justice. The removal of a credible threat to human life — a clear and present danger to human safety — is fully justified, especially after such an individual has demonstrated not only the will, but the means to effect murder on a massive scale.

There are two troubling aspects that linger from that night. The first is the open patriotic celebration in the streets. While we should all be glad that this significant threat is now removed, death in itself is never to be celebrated. Such celebration points to the danger of revenge as a powerful human emotion and revenge has no place among those who honor justice. Retributive justice is sober justice (please read that again) Retributive justice is sober justice. The reason for this is simple — God is capable of vengeance, which is perfectly true to his own righteousness and perfection and as HE has stated multiple times in scripture — but we human beings are not.  Furthermore, this type of celebration looks far more like revenge in the eyes of a watching world, and it looks far more like we are simply taking satisfaction in the death of an enemy.  In my opinion and historically that type of revenge just produces a greater numbers of enemies.

We tend toward the mismeasure of justice when it comes to settling our own claims. All people of good will should be pleased that bin Laden is no longer a personal threat, and that his death may further weaken terrorist plans but revenge is not a worthy motivation for justice, and celebration in the streets is not a worthy response.

The second, and most troubling aspect, is just part of what it means to live in a world in which true justice is always elusive. Usama bin Laden is dead, but we never had the satisfaction of seeing him arrested, tried, convicted, and sentenced. We were robbed of the satisfaction of seeing the evidence against him laid out, and seeing him have to answer the world about his murderous actions and plans. The victims families were robbed. We were robbed of the moral satisfaction that comes by means of a fair and clear verdict, followed by a just and appropriate sentence.

Once again, Christians are reminded of the inherent limitations of justice in a fallen and sinful world. At our very best, we can achieve only a small proportion of adequate justice in our time here on earth. We can convict the murderer and put them to death, but we cannot bring the dead back to life. We can put an end to Usama bin Laden, but we are robbed of the satisfaction of seeing him answer for his crimes.

I have had the chance to discuss this extensively with some people I work with, my wife, and some friends and I [personally] have come to this conclusion.  As a Christ – follower we are left with a sense that a higher court is still needed.  Everyone knows that Usama bin Laden escaped the [full] reach of full human justice and a trial for his crimes, but we Christ-followers understand he will not escape the judgment that is to come. Bin Laden will not escape his trial before the court of God and judgement therein, but until that time, sober satisfaction must be enough for those still in the land of the living.

** I would love to know your thoughts in the comments below**