Author: themusicprofessorguy

Buzzwords have a funny way of painting their subject in the best possible light.

Consider
a few examples. “Progressive”—who doesn’t want to make progress?
“Attractional”—who doesn’t want to attract unbelievers into the church?
“Seeker-sensitive”—why wouldn’t we want to be sensitive to those whom God may
be drawing to himself?

As
slaves of the Word and stewards of language, we must always critically evaluate
the jargon of our evangelical subculture. This is especially true of one more popular
term: gospel-centered. Like so much of our
Christian lingo, gospel-centrality is a virtually self-justifying concept.

Certainly
we must be gospel-centered. After all, Jesus
himself indicated that all of Scripture is about his redemptive work (Lk. 24:44-46).
Paul regarded the gospel as being of “first importance” (1 Cor. 15:3). And it’s
this very good news that, unlike God’s law, can actually save our souls (Rom. 1:16).

None
of these sentiments are wrong; the…