We transitioned from the “Gospel-Centered” movement of the early 2000s, which advocated that our natural loves were actually idolatrous, to the “Gospel-Rare” movement of our day, which suggests that our natural loves only require the Gospel in those rare spiritual experiences.
The Gospel-centered movement chastised anyone who maximized the natural biblical order. They offered pilgrimages towards absolution if only we loved family less and Jesus more. But the result of such dangerous bifurcation was an idolatrous view that minimized the spheres of society for some nebulous piety.
On the other hand, the “Gospel-rare” movement sees the Gospel as completely dispensable when it comes to the salvation of the nations. They wish to divorce Politics from the Gospel and treat the Gospel as merely a message about eternal life. They limit the Gospel to spiritual realities.
However, the Apostle Paul views the Gospel, particularly the promise of the Resurrection, as deeply rooted in the conquest of the nations (I Cor. 15:24-26). For the nations to come to Christ, we need neither a distorted view of the Gospel that minimizes our earthly concerns nor divorce it from its political implications.
The Gospel is a full-orbed, redemptive-historical message that draws people to the Lordship of Jesus Christ and turns our affections rightly to our families and friends, as well as to the victory over principalities and powers.
