Many of us too often live our lives on a scale that is far less than eternal. We are not living, as Dallas Willard says, an "eternal kind of life" now. We are trained and taught that the gospel is about winning at work, finding healthy relationships, controlling our finances, and/or having great sex. I firmly believe the Bible speaks to all of those things, but the Church is starving (starving!) for the glory of God. We too easily forget that the gospel covers the scale of eternity, that it is the division between heaven and hell, that God is infinite and our sin is a condemnation-worthy offense against an eternally holy God. We preach and we settle for much less than, "Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God!"
Our sights are set too small.
On that note, check out Scot McKnight's CT article on The 8 Marks of a Robust Gospel.
In short:
1. The robust gospel is a story.
2. The robust gospel places transactions in the context of persons.
3. The robust gospel deals with a robust problem.
4. A robust gospel has a grand vision.
5. A robust gospel includes the life of Jesus as well as his resurrection, and the gift of the Spirit alongside Good Friday.
6. A robust gospel demands not only faith but everything.
7. A robust gospel includes the robust Spirit of God.
8. A robust gospel emerges from and leads others to the church.
Read the whole thing for explanations and context.
I could quibble with points here or there, but in general it is quite good. And the call for a big gospel is always good and necessary.
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