Surveying the horizon of the evangelical landscape, you cannot help but notice that there is a disturbing lack of holiness in the Church—or perhaps conversely, that it is marked by a disturbing degree of self-righteousness. There are probably several
reasons for this, but some of the most significant are the Church's unfaithfulness to Scripture and the negligent way in which it has allowed itself to succumb to the values and norms of our culture.
Our culture is so antagonistic towards rules and authority that both those raised as Christians and those who become Christians later in life seek out an expression of Christianity that requires very little of them. They don't want a God who, despite freeing them from sin by His infinite mercy, love, and grace, requires that they live to glorify Him in
all that they do. They only want a salvation that makes their eternal destiny sure, not one that forces them to look at all of life through the lenses of a new paradigm. They don't want a gospel that transforms everything, but instead one that makes them feel good and loved and can be used whenever is convenient for them. And regrettably, the Church has made this distorted gospel readily available to them.
Missing the PointWhat pains me so much about this is that people in the Church, leaders and laymen alike, don't see it and continue to feed the problem.
In a post the other day, I quoted
D. A. Carson, who said that while the gospel may have peripheral benefits such as improving your marriage or how you handle your finances, that is not the heart of it. Yet that is what has become of it in the Church today. We turn Jesus into a weak, smiling figure who loves us and gives us some good advice on how to make our lives better. I am not a big fan of
Brian McLaren, but the title of one of his books is perfectly relevant here—we have embarked on adventures in missing the point.
While that might be a bit humorous, make no mistake about it, there is nothing funny about this. It is terribly serious business. Carson rightly says that at the end of the day the gospel is about ultimates. It is about life and death, sin and grace, death and redemption. It is the root and foundation of all that we are, all that we say, think, and do. The problem is that far too many Christians have it reversed. Instead of making the gospel the starting point, we begin with cultural norms and patterns. We then take the gospel and selectively baptize some of the elements of life in order to make them Christian. The gospel is imposed from above on whatever parts of life we choose. It takes minimal effort, makes us look and feel good, and gives us the freedom to live largely as we please.
The Gospel Transforms EverythingBut the fact of the matter is that we don't have a choice. If we believe the gospel, we need to believe in it in such a way that it transforms absolutely
everything. Christ, as sovereign King, makes a claim over every part of life. If we do not live as such, we have sinned and have enthroned someone or something else as king. Furthermore, we are not living in the fullness that God intended humanity to live in. That fullness of life is only realized when we live with Christ as our King.
All this does not mean that life will become easier or make us more happy, as we have been taught to believe. Quite the contrary. When you begin to learn just how the gospel transforms all of life, you realize very quickly that it makes life a

great deal harder. The narrow road is a difficult road. Yes, there are mountains we will overcome, but there are also some very deep valleys we will go through. If you haven't yet figured that out, you're missing something key. Read
Pilgrim's Progress.
This is a hard truth, and I am just as guilty as the next person of making my faith into something I want it to be instead of what it ought to be. But there is no excuse. God has entered into relationship with His people by means of a covenant. His grace is immeasurable in that He demands nothing of us and brings us into that covenant relationship because of His love for us. However, once we are in that relationship, He requires that we worship and serve Him alone. That worship is all-encompassing; it means that the totality of our life is lived in worship to Him. God does not ask that we honor Him now and then, or when it is convenient, or when something good has happened to us. No, He demands our total and complete allegiance. Simply put, if you are not worshiping God, you are worshiping something else.
Neither our culture nor the modern Church like the language of "demands" or "duty" because it is suggestive of legalism. Ironically, they shed the shackles of legalism only to rapaciously embrace the shackles of antinomianism. What appears to be freedom is anything but. True freedom is found always and only in Jesus Christ. When we come to understand and believe that, the things which God requires of us no longer seem like demands. Instead, we joyfully desire to serve Him and strive to do everything to His glory.
That is true freedom. Anything less is slavery to ourselves or another.
Regaining our FootingWe have missed the point of the gospel, and have substituted another gospel (Gal. 1:6-10). The implications of this are enormous. Our lives are lived out of the convictions and beliefs we hold, and when those basic convictions are not biblical, they are sinful.
John Piper says in his
Battling Unbelief, "We sin because it offers some promise of happiness. That promise enslaves us until we believe that God is more desirable than life itself (Psalm 63:3). Only the power of God's superior promises in the gospel can emancipate our hearts from servitude to the shallow promises and fleeting pleasures of sin." It is a complete reordering of life which places the true gospel at the center.
There is a great deal of work ahead and we need leaders who are wholly committed to the gospel, prepared to show how the gospel revolutionizes all of life, and willing to stand against the unfaithfulness that has become so prevalent in the Church. Pray that God will raise up those leaders. Pray that we as the Church might see how we have wandered and turned to our own ways, and that instead we would fix our eyes on Jesus and yearn for the freedom and joy found only in service to Him. Pray that we might forsake ourselves and all others for Him. Pray that we might no longer seek to accommodate the gospel to our own desires, but allow ourselves to be transformed by its power. Pray that it will be soon.
Let us take up our cross and follow Him (Matt. 16:24-26). We rest in the assurance that when we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive them and cleanse us from unrighteousness (1 John 1:9).
Lord, revive Your Church.
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