First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, that your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world. For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of His Son, that without ceasing I make mention of you always in my prayers, making request if, by some means, now at last I may find a way in the will of God to come to you. For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift, so that you may be established— that is, that I may be encouraged together with you by the mutual faith both of you and me. Now I do not want you to be unaware, brethren, that I often planned to come to you (but was hindered until now), that I might have some fruit among you also, just as among the other Gentiles. I am a debtor both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to wise and to unwise. So, as much as is in me, I am ready to preach the gospel to you who are in Rome also. -Romans 1:8-15
Struggle #2: I Have A Tendency To View The Gospel As A Means Of My Success Rather Than The End Of All My Affections
In Romans 1:15 the apostle Paul states, “I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome.” At first glance this seems to be a pretty normal statement for a frontier missionary to the Gentiles to make in light of his passion and calling to take the good news of Christ to those who do not know him, but it is somewhat odd when you consider that he is writing to an already established church and to those who have already responded to Jesus in repentance and faith. Essentially Paul is telling “all those in Rome loved by God, and called (this word means to call out unto salvation) to be saints” that his greatest desire is to preach the good news of Jesus to them.
Why does he do this? Why does Paul see a need to tell the people in Rome who have obviously received the gospel their need of the gospel? Because Paul knew something that we pragmatic, system-saturated, electronic-savvy generation of pastors, church planters and followers of Christ have forgotten–the gospel of the glory of Christ is the end. It was meant to produce in us affections that burn so hot for Jesus that it would propel us to love, good deeds, redemptive biblical community, and mission. Thus, the gospel is not merely what causes new birth, it is the very power of God that produces conformity to Jesus and mission in and through us. I believe this is why the apostle, at the end of his master exposition of the gospel of God’s grace, charges us in Romans 12:1, “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.” Essentially, Paul is telling us that it is through a deep rigorous embrace of the gospel in our souls that we will understand the priority of worship and mission. Why do I fail to engage in the mission of God? Because I have become so familiar with the message of Jesus that I see no need to preach the good news to myself. Instead, I am content to tell others of their need to share the gospel with their friends and neighbors, while I rarely ever allow the gospel to burn in my own soul. Why do I fail to do this? I think it is because it is easier as a pastor to produce more “fruit” and ‘fill” more chairs when I reduce the gospel to a punctilier event embraced in the heart and then forgotten, rather than cultivating a community that connects the message of Jesus to all of life. The shocking truth is that when the gospel becomes a means to my own success rather than the end of all my affection, the mission will fail!
It will fail because I become a professional that clocks in and out of work instead of a New Covenant missionary indwelt with the treasure of the gospel. It will fail because the fame of Christ is not the central motivation of mission. It will fail because my congregation will soon see that I am about the temporal business of church and not the transcendent mission of the kingdom advancement of God. O, that the gospel would seep in the crevices of my adulterous heart and produce in me affections for Christ that burn with such white hot passion, that I would not rest until everyone of my far off friends and distant neighbors would embrace the love of Jesus displayed in the cross.
onlybyHISgrace,
josh
As I read passages such as this, the Spirit moves me to the ask the question, “Why is this not the case with me?” My city is given over to idols. Maybe they are not idols of wood, stone, or gold. No, they are more “sophisticated” and subtle, but like all objects of false worship they rob the one true God of the fame He deserves and this should motivate me to move. If I am honest, there are underling reasons why this does not move me to act. This problem is essentially a gospel problem! There is something I am missing about the gospel! Namely, that one of the foundational truths of this good message is that it is a chronicle of God incurring the costly loss of His Son to rescue a people bent on bowing to lifeless idols (in former time gods like Baal and Zeus, but in more modern times the gods of materialism, sex, etc) . O how this truth should echo in my mind as I see the people of my city and the people of God themselves handling the vary thing for which Jesus suffered and died to loose from our hands.