Motivated by Grace

Excerpt from Ed Stetzer post:   Gospel-Centered Discipleship: An Interview with Jonathan Dodson, Part Two

In part one of the interview with Jonathan Dodson, we primarily discussed his new book Gospel-Centered Discipleship. In part two, I asked him to discuss the recent emphasis on gospel centrality which we are seeing in many streams of evangelicalism.
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The first time I heard "gospel-centered" I thought it was arrogant to specify some Christians as gospel-centered and others as not. Isn't every Christian "gospel-centered?" However, after exploring the meaning of the term, I realized the importance of its theological and practical specificity. I am even slower to embrace "New Testament" as an adjective for things for similar reasons. Both adjectives can be used to unduly discriminate against other Christians.

For instance, someone could say: "We are a new testament church" but that is very misleading. It assumes that their church is the only way for a church to apply New Testament ecclesiology. It implies that no other church is "new testament". However, biblical ecclesiology is flexible on many things, i.e. how you foster community, where you gather, how often you gather, how frequent the sacraments, types of music, and so on. Veli-Matti Karkkainenhas a helpful discussion on flexible ecclesiology.

How then do we avoid the same arrogance with the use of the term gospel-centered? Unlike ecclesiology, the gospel is not flexible in meaning. John Mbiti, an African Missiologist, wrote: "The Gospel is God-given, eternal and does not change. We can add nothing to the Gospel. For this is a eternal gift of God; but Christianity is always a beggar seeking food and drink, cover and shelter from the cultures it encounters in its never-ending journeys and wanderings."

Gospel-centered discipleship focuses on the unchanging, eternal, God-given gospel as the means of salvation and the motivation for sanctification. There are other approaches to discipleship that emphasize the gospel as the means for salvation but methods, effort, or spirituality as the motivation. Then there are methodological debates over what discipleship really is--making or maturing Christians. These debates miss the center of discipleship; they often put methods or rules at the center of following Jesus. Jesus, however, died and rose to take the rules out and put the gospel in. He purchased new hearts with new motivations procured by the gospel of grace. These "gospel" motivations are: the presence and power of the Spirit, religious affections, repentance and faith, and biblical promises and warnings. In the book, I am attempting to re-center discipleship around gospel motivation, while allowing for discipleship methods to be flexible.

To be gospel-centered, then, is to be motivated by grace to honor Jesus Christ as Lord in all of life, either through obedience or repentance. The gospel shapes our world-and-life view and motivates our life in the world.