On the Seasonal Gospel

So I mention the gospel a lot in these posts and I've talked often about the lack of gospel centrality in our churches, in Christian publishing and music, etc. Most of the bloggers listed on my sidebar share the same emphasis. For example, you can read Jared Wilson's recent post [Dude, Where's My Gospel?] for four reason why we need to be persistent about preaching the gospel:

1. Because we are forgetful.
2. Because it has the power to save.
3. Because it is of first importance.
4. Because it glorifies God.

Here's a snip from Jared's piece:

Friends, we have met the enemy, and the enemy is us. We are fickle, self-righteous, forgetful people. Yet we serve a steadfast, gracious, faithful God. Many preachers are fearful of highlighting the gospel every time they speak for fear of it appearing stale. But gospel redundancy is a good thing! We need it. We need the gospel every day (His mercies are new every morning) because we forget it and we sin every day.
Do not aid your community in its forgetfulness by relegating the gospel to the periphery of your proclamation. We need to be reminded of it constantly.

I go along with that. I go along with it hook, line, and sinker. In fact, if there's one thing I'm committed to, it is not to tithing, or being active in church ministry, or faithful attendance to Sunday worship, or any of the various other things my own church leaders has urged us to commit to lately . . .  but to the gospel, each and every day.

I'm mulling this over just now because of something a friend of mine recently said to me. He is very disappointed that I'm disengaging from my church (more on that in another post), and he said, "Bob, I respect your focus on the gospel and the cross and all that, but our church is just in a different season right now. For everything there is a season and a release."

You might have felt the tremor when my jaw hit the floor.

It just makes me wonder, you know?

• If Jesus is all in all, shouldn't he be the emphasis of our preaching?
• If Jesus is both the cornerstone and the capstone, shouldn't he be be given similar status in our preaching?
• If Jesus is the first born of creation and the one in whom all things hold together, shouldn't he "hold together" our sermon outlines?
• If he died for the saving of all humanity from eternal suffering, shouldn't he be the one we persistently make a big deal about in our Chruch talks?
• If he bestrides land and sea and if all creation will one day bow to him in awe, should we be preaching about, umm, behavior modification?
• And if he will one day return to judge both the living and the dead, should he not be routinely, decisvely central to everything we teach and preach as Christ-ians?
• And if the Holy Spirit lives to see to it that Christ alone is glorified, shouldn't our preachers preach Christ, knowing nothing among us but Christ and him crucified?

You know, that which Jesus has done for me and is doing for me is the source of all the peace I have ever known. No amount of preacherly urging to change my life has ever caused me to change it one bit. But Jesus, he has changed my life once and for all.

I wonder how someone can say, as my friend did, that there is a season for the gospel, and right now is not that season. As if the Bible is a book about many things, among them being something called the gospel, but right now the pastor is not "released" to preach that consistently, because, well, it's just not the season.

Amazing.  

Simply amazing.