Pastoral - Open Letter: It's All About Jesus

         I am so thankful to write to you all today concerning this past Sunday’s message, “It’s All About Jesus”, that was flawlessly preached by Joseph Turner. Using the words of the Apostle Paul from 1 Corinthians 2:1–5, Joseph passionately reminded us three things: 1) It’s not about the messenger or the method of delivery, 2) It’s about Christ and him crucified, and 3) That there is a plea for Christ-centered community.

         Jesus wasn’t always what it was all about in my life. Prior to becoming a Christian, Jesus was nothing more than the “peasant hippie that talked more than he showered” (I wasn’t opinionated at all as you can tell). However, that all changed on a Thursday night in November of 2007. I followed some friends whom I worked with into an ecumenical Bible study (basically a worship service) on the then, Kingwood College (now Lonestar College) campus. I was instantly captivated by what was going on in this dimly lit, coliseum-esque amphitheater. There were about a hundred college students from all walks of life mingling together. What was most captivating was the rag-tag group of individuals that was leading this Thursday night Bible study. You had an artist-to-the-core with long hair, a goatee, and a hatred for footwear; an African American athlete that loved to rap and had the soft touch of a caveman; a white guy that was a 6’4” jovial jock whose personality lit up the room; a skinny, Type-A guy who was more organized than Monica from Friends and consistently frustrated at the aforementioned caveman; an incredible guitar player who even now has probably never hit a wrong chord; a very disciplined, mature young woman that to this day nobody knows how she got integrated with the previous squirrels; and all of these people were led by an extremely passionate 25 year-old who wore tight pants and an had an even tighter euro-mullet. 

         I mention all of that because this group of individuals had no reason to be together; they had nothing in common. However, they rallied around this reality: that Christ lived a life that they couldn’t, died the death that they deserved, and rose again on the third day defeating sin, death, and hell. It was this truth that rocked me to my very core. I had never heard the Gospel preached that way and certainly had never experienced the embodiment of said Gospel. They talked about Jesus as if He was the most important thing in the world. It wasn’t about anything or anyone else—it was all about Jesus.

That is exactly what the Apostle Paul was after when he said in 1 Corinthians 2:2:

“For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified”

In fact, Paul mentions this again in Galatians 6:14:

“Far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.”

         It was this practice in word and deed by this group of individuals that was one of the most powerful witnesses to the truth of the Gospel. Despite their differences, they were unified by the reality of the person and work of Jesus. Providence, this should be the helm that guides our ship. It is this truth that the Apostle Paul says in Galatians 2:20:

“I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”

         If we are going to make the Gospel un-ignorable in our city, it will be because we are a people not centered on political agendas, theological parties, or racial differences, but because as a community, we live a life by faith in the Son of God, who loved us and gave himself for us. Congress could rule tomorrow that same-sex marriage is illegal, abortion is murder and punishable, post the Ten Commandments on every courthouse, and declare that Creationism be taught in the classrooms, and that doesn’t change a thing! Our city doesn’t need its moral compass fixed; it needs the Gospel. Our city doesn’t need to hear the Christian church’s political agendas. It needs a community that embodies Gospel love and proclaims this, which was so beautifully said by Dr. Tim Keller:

“We are more sinful and flawed in ourselves than we ever dared believe, yet at the very same time we are more loved and accepted in Jesus Christ than we ever dared hope.”

         Brothers and sisters, in the same way that I was rocked by a community of believers that believed and embodied the Gospel, let us rally together, knowing nothing other than Christ and him crucified, and make the Gospel un-ignorable in our city.

In Christ,

Ty and Megan Gaston