What does it look like for the gospel saturates our experience as a community—and why should we want this? Watch as Brian Dembowczyk explains.
Transcript: Church is more than a meeting. But the odds are, the meeting is the first thing you think of when you hear the word church. The set times of corporate worship, Bible study, and other activities. When we talk about the gospel in the context of church, we typically talk about personal transformation. And the gospel is about transformation, but not just personally. In fact, the gospel is designed for community. It’s infectious. It is designed to be practiced in the presence of other people. The church, then, is like an incubator for gospel transformation, a place where the work of the gospel is nurtured and multiplied across an entire congregation until the word “meeting” is no longer sufficient to describe what’s happening. A gospel culture is a community where the gospel saturates every experience. It begins in our Bible study, when we intentionally return to the gospel every time we open our Bibles. This gospel culture takes root in our study groups and then spreads out into our larger church community, our prayer, worship, music, giving, service, and every other area of the church. The result is a community where, from the youngest to the oldest, doubters become believers who become declarers of the gospel.
Have you seen the first four sessions of The Gospel Project, Volume 1: In The Beginning?
Transcript: Church is more than a meeting. But the odds are, the meeting is the first thing you think of when you hear the word church. The set times of corporate worship, Bible study, and other activities. When we talk about the gospel in the context of church, we typically talk about personal transformation. And the gospel is about transformation, but not just personally. In fact, the gospel is designed for community. It’s infectious. It is designed to be practiced in the presence of other people. The church, then, is like an incubator for gospel transformation, a place where the work of the gospel is nurtured and multiplied across an entire congregation until the word “meeting” is no longer sufficient to describe what’s happening. A gospel culture is a community where the gospel saturates every experience. It begins in our Bible study, when we intentionally return to the gospel every time we open our Bibles. This gospel culture takes root in our study groups and then spreads out into our larger church community, our prayer, worship, music, giving, service, and every other area of the church. The result is a community where, from the youngest to the oldest, doubters become believers who become declarers of the gospel.
Very well said, Brian. I want my adults to grasp this vision of the gospel.
Thank you for sharing! To provide some context, can you share some common examples of what church looks like when it *doesn’t* have a gospel-centered culture? I don’t mean examples of a non-orthodox church like a universalist church, but what a standard, evangelical, non-denominational church might look like when it is not rooted in the gospel. I’m beginning to grasp the importance of a gospel-centered culture, but I’m not clear on the distinctions when that culture is missing. Perhaps there are resources you can point me to that clarify what that culture looks and feels like as opposed to when it’s missing. Thanks!
Hi, Anduin. Thanks for checking this out and I am glad to hear you are pondering this subject. I would suggest that lacking gospel culture in a standard, evangelical, orthodox church looks like biblical moralism. Where the gospel is set aside as only necessary for salvation, and then living the Christian life is about what we can do to keep God happy. So it ignores transformation wrought by the gospel in our lives, which in turn minimizes living on mission (evangelism). This, to me, is what plagues many of the U.S. churches today. People come week-in and week-out out of obligation and live no differently from the world.
Wow thanks, Brian. That is helpful. I think I understand what you mean by “biblical moralism”. Church sometimes feels like a self-help program–these are the things you can do to live a better life–with a few supporting scriptures sprinkled in, and always with the salvation prayer coming out of the blue at the end with all heads bowed and eyes closed. …I’ve learned that the same message that saves the unbeliever (the gospel) is the same message that sanctifies the believer. So I guess it’s simply the gospel that we apply every day to our lives in everything we do. Are there practical steps you suggest for someone who feels that their church perhaps is missing this culture?
Good question. I think the first step is to ensure that the teaching is gospel-centered. All else hinges on that. Put all teaching contexts under the microscope and see if the gospel is addressed every time. Some teachers may need to learn how to do this. The next step is related to that: is application filtered through the gospel? Is it based on our identity in Christ? Our of gratitude for what Christ has done? From God’s favor, not for it? The next step would be to consider if vision is being cast for living on mission. Do people see their purpose in continuing in this big story of redemption?
Thanks, Brian! I appreciate your guidance. I will begin to explore these questions. Have a good day!