Friday, January 20, 2006
The Good News
GospelDrivenLife reviews John Piper's latest book and says this
We live in a narcissitic age. If the church chases "success" by "tuning" the gospel to that narcissism, what we will have accomplished will not be in line with the desires of our Lord.
Related Tags: gospel, John Piper, Christianity, worship, mission, success
John is rightly concerned that Gospel centeredness can become a "me and my justification". It is all about my sins being forgiven, my acceptance with God, my daily need to live in the goodness of the Gospel, applying the Gospel to my idols and pride. That sort of Gospel centeredness is really at risk of being me-centered -- a form of narcissism with the Gospel helping.This is precisely the point I have been driving at in my posts on worship here and here.
This book is a major corrective. John simply notes that the goodness of the good news is ultimately more than my forgiveness and justification. It is that now, the God of heaven, through the sacrifrice of his Son, has invited me into his presence. The good news is that I may know and see and worship and delight in God through the sacrifice of the Son of God and the indwelling of the Spirit of God.
We live in a narcissitic age. If the church chases "success" by "tuning" the gospel to that narcissism, what we will have accomplished will not be in line with the desires of our Lord.
Related Tags: gospel, John Piper, Christianity, worship, mission, success
