The Gospel is simply this: Jesus Christ, the Son of God, suffered, died, and was raised from the dead. The Gospel is something that has happened, and because it has happened, things will never be the same, not for this world and not for any one of us. It means that this world, and we in it, need not inevitably diminish and fall into shadow, but rather this world, and we in it, can be renewed through what Jesus has done. This meaning becomes an actual experience in our lives when we do three things: admit, sense, and discern.
First, we admit that things are amiss in our lives and in the world. (hide/show)
This should be a no-brainer. Our actual lives never seem to be all we’d like them to be. In spite of our sincerest efforts, trouble still seeps in. Sometimes it’s our fault. Sometimes it isn’t. Either way, if we pause to reflect on how our lives are actually going, something always seems amiss. The same is true for the world we live in. The reports and images of atrocities around the globe are so commonplace in print and broadcast media that it is hard to imagine anyone denying that something is amiss in the world.
Second, we sense that the Gospel is the key to setting our lives and this world right. (hide/show)
This is not as obvious. The harsh realities of our lives and this world have caused a lot of us to give up on hoping that things could ever be put right. But what if that hope were not in vain? What if something or someone actually could put things right again? The Gospel says that God has done just that through Jesus Christ. Many other religions and philosophies claim to have the key to putting things right too. What makes the Gospel so special? The Gospel centers not only on a claim, but on an event, on something that has actually happened. That event is the death and resurrection of the Son of God who took on flesh in the person of Jesus Christ. Through that event, God has validated the claim that all that is amiss in our lives and in this world has been and will be overcome through Jesus Christ. Apart from the Gospel, no religious or philosophical claim to set things right can muster this validation. Additionally, we have existential validation of this claim. Jesus did not rise from the dead and leave us to our own devices. He remains present in this world and in us through the working of the Holy Spirit. Through the Spirit, God himself testifies within us that the Gospel is real, that by Jesus’ death and resurrection this world, and we in it, are being set right. That is why the Gospel is not just something we know to be true, it is something, or rather someone, we sense as real. If you do not have this sense right now and would like it, pray for God to give it to you.
Third, we discern in community how the Gospel renews our lives and this world. (hide/show)
Admitting, sensing, and discerning encourages a wondrous personal and communal dynamic. (hide/show)
Coming to experience the personal and social renewal of the Gospel through admitting, sensing, and discerning encourages a wondrous dynamic. These are not three easy steps to forming Christian faith or community. Rather, these are stations that our hearts pass through and revisit as we grapple with and celebrate the complexity of our lives in New York City. For instance, after we admit and sense, we might realize as we discern that we really haven’t admitted everything we need to or that we really haven’t sensed the reality of the Gospel as well as we thought. Our discernment might bog us down in a confusion that requires us to revisit that basic sense of Gospel renewal that comes through Jesus’ death, resurrection, and continued presence in this world. Each station of admitting, sensing, and discerning informs the other, and as we pray and reflect through each of these stages on our own and together, we find ourselves spiraling into a fuller, more concrete understanding and experience of the personal and social renewal of the Gospel.