Are You Fluent in the Gospel?

Have you ever been to a foreign country and were truly unable to communicate? I remember trying to figure out the Paris Metro when I was there for a brief visit during college. While many people in Paris speak English, I couldn’t find an English speaker at the stop where I was. I was feeling lost and confused.

While the gospel is not exactly equitable to a language, it is the central pillar of our faith. If we are merely conversational in it, we are missing its full impact and power. We cannot communicate with others fully unless we are fluent in the gospel.

What is Gospel Fluency?

How do you define the gospel? Based on my upbringing, I would have said about the gospel is the story of how a sinless Jesus came to earth to die for our sins and was raised from the dead. It is undoubtedly good news.

As my husband and I have embarked on our church plant, my understanding of the gospel has broadened significantly. I now understand that the entire Bible—including the Old Testament—points to the gospel and the beautiful, redemptive work of Jesus. I now understand that the gospel can and should affect all of life. We simply must know it well–we must be fluent in the gospel.

Even if we have put our faith in Christ, we all have moments of unbelief. If we truly understand that God is good and worthy of our trust, we will have no need to worry. I have many moments of unbelief wherein I fail to believe this central gospel truth. I need others in my community to speak the gospel to me and point me back to Jesus in those moments of unbelief.

The Gospel as a Language

While the gospel isn’t a language per se, living it out requires more than a cursory understanding. If we have a love for the gospel and for Jesus, we owe it more than a brief glance. We should study it. We should practice it with others. We should be able to speak about it easily within our communities.

Yet we don’t ever want to use words that are difficult to understand to not yet believers. In no way am I suggesting we get fluent in a strange spiritual language that isolates those who are not a part of it. To the contrary, to study the gospel and speak it into all of life–to be fluent in the gospel–is to include and love others well.

When we view the overarching story of the Bible as the whole gospel, we can apply it to all situations. We can connect our own stories with God’s story. We can see how he is redeeming us and drawing us closer to him.

Applying the Gospel to Life

In moments of sin or unbelief, rather than responding to the behavior, it’s helpful to think about the root cause. When I get impatient with my kids and raise my voice unkindly, my husband could tell me to calm down. (That almost always goes over really well!) Alternatively, he could ask me what has caused my impatience.

In all likelihood, it is less about my imperfect, not-so-tiny humans listening poorly. It is about me elevating myself in my mind and deciding that my desires are most important. I’m not believing that God is good and gracious in those moments. I’m idolizing myself. I’m not remembering or believing that God has given me these precious gifts to raise and protect.

Instead of just telling each other to not worry or to stop certain behaviors, we would live out the gospel more effectively by digging into the root cause of our behavior and applying God’s truth to it. If I am reminded about what I’m not believing about God in times of anxiety and anger and grief, I will inevitably trust God more completely and understand his gospel more fully.

I’ve taken up a hobby of making custom tumblers. It involves working with epoxy. Epoxy seeps into the spaces where it is placed. It moves and settles itself out to be as smooth as glass in the right environment. Like epoxy, the gospel will seep into every part of our lives if we let it. Jesus wants to be involved in our whole lives, not just the hours when we’re at church. He gave us his Holy Spirit for this express purpose. The Spirit is there to remind and point us back to Jesus if we will listen.

The gospel is a precious gift from our loving heavenly Father. We can know and even regurgitate the facts of the gospel, but are we letting its implications seep into our hearts and impact our thoughts, words, and actions? Do we view the beauty of creation as God’s goodness? Do we listen to each other’s stories and apply the gospel to them? Do we point others to Christ in moments of sin or doubt?

How can we become more fluent in the gospel?

Amy Wiebe is a Jesus follower, wife, mom of three, church planter, finance director, and lover of sarcasm and deep conversation with friends. She also loves camping, rafting, skiing, sewing, and having people over. Amy blogs with her husband at fringechurch.com.