We Must Commit to the Functional Centrality of the Gospel

The Greatest and Most Crying Need of the Church Today Several years ago, I received an invitation to participate in a gathering of pastors from around the United States. Prior to that gathering, we participants were asked to submit answers to this question: What is the greatest and most crying need in the church today? This is what I wrote: What is the greatest and most crying need in the church today? Not just a biblical/theological literacy but a functioning theological/biblical literacy, especially a functioning gospel. I believe a local church is healthy to the degree that: (1) its pastor- teachers are able—accurately, effectively, broadly—to bring the gospel to bear specifically into the real lives of the people; and (2) its people have a deep personal understanding of and a deep personal appreciation for the gospel so as to be able to live in the good of the gospel daily. One of the greatest challenges, yet one of the most important tasks, of pastoral ministry is to help people actually see the connections between the gospel and the thinking and behavior that make up their everyday lives. We know well the centrality of the gospel message but in order for it to have a function...