Values determine our destiny. Matthew wrote something along these lines when he said, “Where your treasure is there your heart will be also”. In other words what we truly value (treasure), that is what we will invest in with our whole heart. You can always tell what someone values because that is where they will spend time, money and effort. Think of your favorite hobby. People who have a passion for something have no problem spending time learning about that subject. If the hobby requires equipment or training, most people who truly value that activity will have no problem spending the money to get what they need to engage that pursuit. We usually do not have to “make” time for that acidity because when people have a passion for something they simply utilize every spare minute jumping into their hobby.

We value the gospel at Oak Grove Church. The gospel is the power of God that can transform every life. Our conviction is every believer must be bold in engaging their culture with the good news of Jesus Christ, with humility that we too need to be constantly transformed, sustained, and renewed by that same gospel.

We value the sufficiency of the gospel. The apostle Paul reminded us that the gospel is the power of God for salvation. There is nothing inadequate in the gospel. It perfectly satisfies the wrath of God and justice of God. It redeems broken humanity and there is nothing that needs to be added to give us a perfect standing before our heavenly Father. The gospel gives us the full (legal) right to be children of the Most High God and restores our authentic identity in Christ.

We value the significance of the gospel for Christians. We live in a culture (and world) that is conflicted over so many things. Different groups who normally would be “on the same side” appear to be drawing up battle lines in an effort to bring about some kind of change at all different levels of our culture. The danger is that we start choosing sides and that can deteriorate quickly to taking a stand against things rather than promoting what we believe. We believe the gospel is completely sufficient for all matters of life and Godliness. The gospel is appropriate for our redemption. The gospel is ample for dealing with injustice, discrimination, identity, and purpose. If we truly value the gospel and are willing to consider the far reaching implications of “doing all things for the sake of the gospel” (1 Cor. 9:23) it would push far beyond our present comfortability of just “being saved”.

We value the sacredness of the gospel for every Christian living in a broken world. The gospel is necessary for believers to know how they should live. Once God transforms our perspective to give us His view of the world, life, and eternity, it is easy for us to become arrogant because of what we now know from God (1 Cor. 8:1). It is easy to become judgmental of the world, criticize other believers, and become cynical of the “stupidity” of others when they fail. But a daily reminder of what God has done for us and continues to do for us through the gospel, and His ongoing love, grace, and mercy towards us in Christ ought to keep us very humble. We quickly forget our best performance before God, our catalogue of successes and our innate goodness will always dispense us to a Christ-less eternity apart from the gospel. We are no better than the people we criticize, and the gospel reminds us that apart from the gospel we have no standing before God. Sin makes every person (and especially Christians) look stupid, at least in everyone else’s eyes. We need to remind ourselves that apart from the gospel, if we faced the same circumstances others are struggling with, we would likely manifest similar “stupidity” if we walked in their shoes.

We need to be for the gospel. I believe our movement forward as individuals, pastors, leadership teams, and churches needs to be riveted. Not so much on what we are against, but rather surgically focused on what we are for. We are for the gospel in every sense of the word. I want my life, our church, and our region to have a reputation of what we are for – in this case the gospel of Jesus Christ. Only the gospel has the power to transform lives; only the gospel can restore our authentic identity; only the gospel can help us see equality and identity as clearly as God sees us. The question is never about the sufficiency of the gospel. The question is are we willing look hard at the implications of the gospel and allow it to chart our journey forward?

In His grace and love,

Brad Little