“If you are in ministry and you are not reminding yourself again and again of the now-ism of the gospel, that is, the right-here, right-now benefits of the grace of Christ, you will be looking elsewhere to get what can be found only in Jesus” (Paul David Tripp in Dangerous Calling, page 36).
There are so many things that we remind ourselves of each day. We make ourselves lists of things to get at the grocery store; write down appointments for the day; or use our electronic communication devices to type or text ourselves notes of important events like birthdays, anniversaries, ballgames, or important meetings. In all of the things that we remember (with the necessary help), how often do we remind ourselves of the Gospel?
Tripp notes, “If you are in ministry and you are not reminding yourself again and again of the now-ism of the gospel, that is, the right-here, right-now benefits of the grace of Christ, you will be looking elsewhere to get what can be found only in Jesus” (page 36). By not “feeding our souls” on Christ, we will look to poor substitutes. Stated differently, by not focusing on the true Gospel, we’ll focus on a false one. The difference between reminding ourselves on the Gospel versus the other “reminders” that we place in our lives, is that the Gospel cannot be checked off a list. Unlike the anniversary or important event, it is not something that we can check as “done” and move on to other things. The Gospel must be kept on our minds throughout the day, multiple times each day for the rest of our lives. We must remind ourselves of it again and again because it never grows old.
Philippians 4:8 states that we are to think about things that are true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, commendable, excellent, or worthy of praise. The Gospel is all of these things. For the last several weeks, we have looked at signs that a ministry worker is losing his or her way. One of these signs that he or she is not preaching the gospel to himself or herself.
What do you think about through the course of the day? We make important events in our lives priorities as things to remember. Why do we not make more of a conscious effort to remember the Gospel? Tripp points out an important truth that all of us need to hear: “If you are not requiring yourself to get your deepest sense of well-being vertically, you will shop for it horizontally, and you will always come up empty” (page 36). So what about you? Have you reminded yourself of the Gospel today?
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Dangerous Calling: Confronting the Unique Challenges of Pastoral Ministry By Paul David Tripp / Crossway Books & Bibles |