:: Keller On Preaching in a Post-modern City II
:: The Church Planter Spouse: Partner in Marriage, Partner in the Church
:: Church-Planter Spouse Competencies

:: You Can Spend Too Little, and Too Much Time With Family
:: Books: Urban Theology
:: Get the RCPC Church Planter Manual
:: Got Church Planting in You? Find Out!

KELLER ON PREACHING IN A POST-MODERN CITY II
Preaching To Create Spiritually Inclusive Worship
By Tim Keller, Senior Pastor, Redeemer Presbyterian Church

(continued from page 2)

Summary: So the gospel is news about what God has done in history to save us, rather than advice about what we must do to reach God. The gospel is news that Jesus' life, death, and resurrection in history has achieved our salvation. We do not achieve it, only accept it. Jesus does not just bring good news; he is the good news.

The gospel is that Jesus lived the life you should have lived and died the death you should have died, in your place, so God can receive you not for your record and sake but for his record and sake.

b. The gospel is grace to the weak rather than power to the strong. ("THE GOSPEL OF THE KINGDOM" Matt. 4:23)
The 'situational' perspective: How did it happen?

We also see that the gospel is not simply that Christ has come into history to save us, but also it is how he accomplishes that. The answer is: through a new, deep structure or 'paradigm' that completely contradicts the way of the world. God's saving purposes are effected through the crucified and risen Christ. Christ wins through losing, triumphs through defeat, achieves power through weakness and service, comes to wealth via giving all away. And those who receive his salvation are not the strong and accomplished but those who admit they are weak and lost. In short, Jesus pulls off 'the great reversal'. "The essence of sin is man substituting himself for God, while the essence of salvation is God substituting himself for man. Man... puts himself where only God deserves to be; God... puts himself were only man deserves to be." [John Stott, The Cross of Christ (Inter-Varsity Press, 1986), p.160]

This pattern so contradicts the thinking and practice of the world, that it creates an 'alternate kingdom', an 'alternate city' (Matt. 5:14-16) in which there is a complete reversal of the values of the world with regard to power, recognition, status, wealth. The gospel reverses the place of the weak and the strong, the "outsider" and the "insider." It is an advantage, spiritually speaking, to see one's weakness; it is a severe danger, spiritually speaking, to be successful and accomplished. And when we finally understand that we can be saved by sheer grace through Christ, we stop seeking salvation (either that of psychological fulfillment, or of social transformation, or of spiritual blessing, or of all three) in power, status and accomplishment. That destroys their power in our lives. The reversal of the cross, the grace of God, thus liberates us from bondage to other power of material things and worldly status in our lives. We begin to live a new life without much regard to them.

Many Christians 'reduce' the gospel to the good news of individual forgiveness of sins. But clearly, the gospel writers are talking about something much more than that. The "gospel of the kingdom" is a phrase used numerous times in Matthew, Mark, and Luke. The 'Great Reversal' of the cross means that the gospel proclaims and creates a reversal of the values of the world. For example, the gospel is especially welcomed by the poor and for the poor (Luke 4:18- He has anointed me... to preach the gospel to the poor." Cf. also Luke 7:22.) Preaching the gospel and healing people's bodies are closely associated (Luke 9:6). The gospel creates a people with a whole alternate way of being human. Racial and class superiority, accrual of money and power at the expense of others, yearning for popularity and recognition – all these things are marks of living in the world, and are the opposite of the mindset of the kingdom (Luke 6:20-26).

What is the 'kingdom of God?

Sin, the resistance of God's authority and kingship, leads to the 'unraveling' of the fabric of creation. Relationships with God, with other races and classes, with individuals, with one's own true self, and with physical nature itself – all 'come apart' and disintegrate where God is not recognized as King.

The kingdom of God is the entrance into the world of God's ruling power – and that power will heal and 're-weave' all of creation back together, spiritually, psychologically, socially and even physically. The kingdom of God means, first of all, Jesus is Lord of your salvation, not you! So the kingdom means salvation is of sheer grace. But the kingdom also means he is Lord of everything else. Relationships between races and classes, between individuals, and between man and God are healed and re-woven into one fabric again to the degree that they come under the authority of Jesus, through his Word and Spirit. God reveals that his redemption will entail the complete healing of creation, including social justice, the reunification of all humanity, and the end of physical decay and death (Is. 11:1-10.) Everything in the world is properly understood only if we see: 1) it was created good, 2) it is fallen and marred by sin, 3) it will be redeemed in Christ.

What is the relationship of the gospel to the kingdom?

On the one hand, we could say that the gospel 'brings' the kingdom. It brings us into it (see Col 1:13-14; John 3:5) in that it brings us under the ruling power of God. Luke tells us in 16:16 that the gospel brings or proclaims a kingdom – a new order of life – that we need to 'press into'. People who are converted by the gospel "see" a new kingdom (cf. John 3:3.) Also, it transforms people so that they live according to the great reversal of the cross. Living lives of sacrificial service – devoid of self-justification in relationships or in our use of money or in attitudes toward other races and classes or in our work and vocation – goes a long way toward re-weaving the fabric of society and communities. Once we see that we are sinners saved by grace alone, our old patterns are broken up, and live lives of sacrificial service rather than self-aggrandizement (cf. 2 Cor. 8:9). Also, the gospel thereby creates a 'kingdom community' – a counter-culture, the church – in which we are 'royal priests' showing the world what the future kingdom will look like (1 Peter 2:9-10). We 'model' how all of life – business practices, race relations, family life, art and culture – are healed and re-woven by the King.

On the other hand, the in-breaking kingdom of God (to restore all of creation) is the gospel! Twice Luke actually says that the kingdom is the gospel message (Luke 4:43; 16:16). The fact that Jesus has broken into history to redeem all of life and give us a new order is great news. Why? We said above that looking for salvation to anything but the grace of Christ sets up an 'idol' or a 'power' or a 'false savior-king'. Human society is miserable under the influence of these idol-powers: such as sex, money, power, or race. When we understand that we can be saved by sheer grace through Christ, we stop seeking salvation by any other means. That destroys the power of these false savior-kings over us. The declaration of the gospel of grace is therefore always a declaration of the kingdom. A new savior is a new king. For example, Paul says that Peter's racism was "not in line with the truth of the gospel" (Gal.2:14). If we are saved by grace alone – but we continue to be racists, we continue to bow to a false savior-king; we continue to look to our race and culture to justify ourselves over others. But the gospel is the gospel of Christ's kingdom. The reversal of the cross, the grace of God, tears down our pride and thus liberates us from bondage to other powers in our lives and our society.

Summary: Second, we see that the gospel of free grace is necessarily a 'gospel of the kingdom' which effects the way we live in society and in the world. The gospel is not just (as is often thought) the message of how you can get individual forgiveness and eternal life through Jesus. But we cannot separate this second 'perspective' from the first. If we are not saved wholly by Christ (not ourselves) then the kingdom of God is not good news! It is not good news to be told, simply: "God has created a mini-society of freedom and justice based on his laws. Join up!" That would make the message of Christianity a burdensome one of instruction on how to live (Perspective #1) not a message of grace. But also, separated from the other perspectives, the kingdom of God would simply never 'work'. What makes people able to change their mindset from 'worldly' to 'kingdom' is the existential experience of justification and sonship (Perspective #3), not just being told to live unselfishly.

The gospel is: the way up is down, the way to power is give up power and serve, the way in to God is to go to the margins in repentance and faith. The gospel is God loves to work through the weak, the marginal, the poor.

c. The gospel is of faith rather than of merit or performance. ("THE GOSPEL OF YOUR SALVATION" Eph. 1:13)
The 'existential' perspective: In whom does it happen?

While the gospels (especially the 'Synoptics' – Matthew, Mark, and Luke) stress the gospel of the kingdom, the epistles, and especially those of Paul, show how it is additionally "the gospel of your salvation" (Eph. 1:13).

Paul, better than any other Biblical writer, explores the meaning of the 'gospel of Christ' for the individual believer. He tells us that the gospel "reveals a righteousness from God" (Rom. 1:17). Here and in Galatians 2 Paul specifically identifies the gospel with the teaching that we receive not just pardon and forgiveness but also the righteousness of Christ (2 Cor. 5:21). This is received by faith in the finished work of Christ, not by good works or our merit.

If we think of the gospel as only pardon or forgiveness of sins, we will trust in God for our past salvation, but will trust in our own present strivings and attainments for our present relationship with God. But the "hope of the gospel" (Col. 1:23) is that " now he has reconciled you by Christ's body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation." (Col. 1:22) The gospel offers not just forgiveness for our bad record, but also complete acceptance through Christ's perfect record. Christ did not only die in our place but lived a perfect life in our place. Therefore we do not simply get forgiveness for sins from Christ, but also complete acceptance. His perfect past and record now (in God's sight) becomes ours.

Thus the entire Christian life is a life "lived (in a continual present progressive) by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." (Gal. 2:20) On the one hand, this certainly means we can only enter a relationship with God by the deliberate act of trusting in his work and rejecting any trust in our own. (Rom. 4:5 – Now to the one who does not work, but trusts God who justifies the wicked, his faith is credited to him as righteousness.) But, on the other hand, (as the present progressive of Gal. 2:20 indicates) we must continually remind ourselves of our status as legally righteous, adopted children of God. Galatians is written to Christians who are losing their grip on the doctrine of free justification and may be 'returning to the bondage' (Gal. 5:1) to false savior-gods (Gal. 4:8). Whenever we lose our grip on the gospel of salvation-by-faith-not-works, and we fall back into some form of works-righteousness, we return to fear and bondage.

Through the gospel we can say: "I am accepted through Christ, therefore I obey." But the human heart operates on the 'religious' principle: "I obey, therefore I am accepted". The gospel, then, differs from both religion and irreligion. You can, of course, seek to be your own 'lord and savior' by breaking the law of God. But you can also do so by keeping the law to earn your salvation. Disbelief in the gospel of grace is therefore not only the main thing that keeps the unconverted from God. It also is the main cause of spiritual deadness, fear, and pride in Christians, because our hearts continue to act on the basis "I obey, therefore I am accepted." They look to things to 'save' us (such as our family, our moral record, our work, and so on.) They become more central to our hope and identity than God, which returns us to fear and bondage. So we do not 'get saved' by believing the gospel and then 'grow' by trying hard to live according to Biblical principles.The gospel is the way not only to meet God, but to grow into him. Only by deepening and renewing our understanding of the gospel do we overcome our character flaws. Only profound knowledge of our acceptance in Christ makes the law of God a thing of beauty instead of a burden. Then we can use it to delight, resemble, and know the one who saved us – rather than to get his attention or procure his favor. Then we can run the race "for the joy set before us" rather than "for the fear coming behind us".

The gospel is that you are more wicked and flawed then you ever dared believe, and more loved and accepted than you ever dared hope at the same time. Unconditionally loved and radically humbled. Simul justus et peccator.

2. The Importance of All the Perspectives

These three perspectives are important to "keep together". There are today different 'parties' that have isolated and focused on one aspect of the gospel – this usually leads to difficulties and imbalances. The 'classic evangelical' position is 'the gospel of Christ' – which all by itself leads to a ministry almost strictly of apologetics, evangelism, and discipleship. The implications for worship: a very sermon/teaching oriented service. This is the position of the evangelical world of the last 50 years. If you 'came up' in InterVarsity or Campus Crusade, or in one of the older confessional churches or independent Bible churches – that is what you heard.

The 'progressive evangelical' position is the 'gospel of the kingdom' – which all by itself leads to a ministry mainly of community-building and social justice. The implications for worship: often more liturgical. This position is gaining a lot of steam, and is uniting former liberals, who are recognizing the bankruptcy of former ways, and former classical evangelicals, who are recognizing the individualism of their former ways. This group is strong at seeing the church as a 'counter-culture' modeling the kingdom, and strong on calls to engage with modern culture. The problem is – they often reject the very idea of legal, forensic justification (as too individualistic). I wonder if that might not lead to a 'communal' legalism in the end. Will calls to join the 'reign of God' lead anyone to sing 'my chains fell off, my heart was free, I rose, went forth, and followed thee?'

The 'revivalist evangelical' position is the 'gospel of sonship'. Among charismatics and others in the revival tradition (since Jonathan Edwards) – there is this basic idea. Most of the time, the Christian church is moribund and lacks the power of the Spirit. In times of revival, however, the nominalism, legalism, and works-righteousness of the church falls away and there is a recapture of the gospel of free justification and sonship. Then Christians are renewed, as they recapture their identity as children of God, and non-Christians are attracted in. This position – all by itself, leads to a ministry emphasizing prayer, personal renewal, and lots of personal counseling. The implications for worship: often more on the charismatic, contemporary, informal style. This view has historically been in tension with both the classic view (which sees it as too oriented to 'feelings') and the kingdom view (which sees it as too individualistic).

But not only should these perspectives be 'combined' – it must be seen that they interpenetrate and contain one another. Put another way: if you push down deep enough into any of the perspectives, you find the other two! For example: if you push down into the gospel of sonship far enough, you will discover that we need to care for the poor. My new identity in Christ, when perfected, must remove class pride and racism. For example: if you push down into the gospel of the kingdom far enough, you will see that the cross does not only liberate from the power of social idols, but personal idols, which are always rooted in self-righteousness.