by David Dixon
Eastern PA District Team
If I were to ask you what each person in this world needs most, the answer that I would hear from most Christians (I would hope) is: Jesus.
It is the correct answer, but perhaps also a misunderstood answer. Why is Jesus what we need? If I have a relationship with Jesus, then how is Jesus the answer to the particular problem or issue I am facing? If I have questions about life that I know Jesus is the answer to, yet little seems to make sense, am I missing something?
These questions, and many like them, are why Gospel fluency is important in the culture and the communities of our local churches.
While the phrase Gospel fluency is relatively new, the concept is not. Fluency in a new language and culture happens when you stop having to pause to translate every word or idea and you start thinking, hearing, and talking in that new language. From a Gospel perspective, “Gospel-fluent people think, feel, and perceive everything in light of what has been accomplished in the person and work of Jesus Christ. They see the world differently. They think differently. They feel differently.” (Jeff Vanderstelt, Gospel Fluency)
We see this concept of Gospel fluency throughout the New Testament. One example is in the letter to the Ephesians 4:15, Paul tells the church there, “Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ…” Paul’s instructions are that they are to remind each other of the truth in love and graciousness so that they may mature in Christ. The truth that Paul is asking them to speak over and over to one another is the Gospel: the story and work of Jesus and how it speaks to every area of their life.
He highlights this just a little bit later in Ephesians 4:21 when he says, “…assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus…” Paul’s encouragement is that if you learned Christ, then continue in Christ. We do not outgrow our need for the redemptive work of Jesus in our everyday life. This is why we must remind each other of it again and again so that we might become the kind of people that see, think, and feel according to the Gospel.
Paul then completes the thought at the end of the chapter when he repeats his call to speak the truth in Ephesians 4:25, “Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another.” In re-emphasizing this idea that we are to speak the truth to one another Paul highlights not just the importance of it, but also the community nature of it. The best way for us to grow in Gospel fluency is through a community of people who are seeking to immerse themselves in knowing Jesus, participating in His mission, and asking Jesus to change their hearts to be like his. Through life and mission together with Jesus, they will begin to ask, “What does Jesus think, feel, or have to say about this?” As they do this more and more, one day they will find that they don’t have to ask the question anymore, they will simply think, feel, and perceive everything in light of the Gospel. They will become fluent.
Now when people ask the question about what the world needs most, the answer will still be Jesus, but it will no longer be a rote answer. It will be an answer filled with great power and purpose because Jesus has accomplished much for us through his life, death, burial, and resurrection so that we might know him, enjoy him, and be changed by him.
I would ask you to join me in praying for and pursuing Gospel fluency in your church culture and community. If you’d like to talk more about the concept of Gospel fluency or even what it could look like in your context, please reach out to me at david.dixon@epdalliance.org. It would be great to hear from you.