Values – Gospel

Simply put…the Gospel is the good news contained in the story of Scripture. That story pinnacles in the person and work of Jesus Christ, God become one of us to show us what God’s like and then bear our sins (all the ways we aren’t perfectly the way we should be), who was crucified and then resurrected as a proof and promise that one day all things shall be restored and made right for those who are reconciled to God.

That said, there is FAR more good news than that. In fact, the Bible is full of it. The Bible begins with good news, that the creator shaped this world in such a good way that it was hospitable and ready to be developed by the creatures who would bear his image. Then we see the creation of Adam and Eve, who are given incredible responsibility and quickly fail to acknowledge and worship God in the face of temptation. How does God respond? Is he angry? Yes, and rightfully so…he cannot allow people to move forward as if he is not God. But what does he do to achieve justice? He sacrifices an innocent animal, and by it’s sacrifice God covers the shame of his people. They will live under a curse, but ALWAYS under his grace. Every time they worship him they will receive cleansing and atonement that they don’t deserve.

In this story of creation, we hear a whisper of Jesus. The rest of the Bible is the same. Every movement of the nation of Israel, every judge, every king, every prophet points to a God of all creation, the fallenness of humanity, and then the redeeming GRACE of God that calls us back to him. The good news contained in the Bible, is the news of a gracious God, who offers us his goodness and mercy in order to win our hearts back to him. To accept this grace is life changing. To reject it is to return as a dog to its vomit…back to the old ineffective ways of living that alienate us from God and cause us to do damage to one another and all of creation.

Because we believe such things, the gospel moves from being just a thing we believe in, to a value and paradigm for ministry. All good Christian ministry and engagement in the world is “gospel shaped.” This means that ministry should be a good and gracious gift that gives a taste of how things ought to be. This means that ministry is sacrificial and loving at it’s core, with the goal of reconciliation. This means that ministry is God centered, in that it acknowledges that the good news is ultimately God, and that our souls remain restless until they find their rest in him. This means that the person and work of Jesus Christ are never doctrines we grow up past, but deep biblical patterns that we learn and grow into more and more.

Subvalues: Humility, Unity and Diversity, Gospel Shaped Worship.

Listen to more about Mission Church’s Values here.

Read more on the Christian Gospel from pastors Martin Ban (here) and Tim Keller (here).

Read a mediation on the gospel as it relates to racism here.