Gospel: Recovering the Power that Made Christianity Revolutionary

(The first thing I note is for Kindle readers: For some reason, Amazon isn't saving/displaying my highlights for this book as with other books, so I don't have location references with the quotes below. I'm not sure where the fault is here, it simply does not appear on the Your_Highlights page, the history skips over this book for some reason.)My church went through the video and study guide series version (Gospel Revolution), but I missed out on most of it so I read the book instead. This book has a good intent and message, but Greear unfortunately follows in the footsteps of many putting out books in the perish-or-publish mentality today, writing as if he's had an epiphany no one else has had and ignoring the works of countless Christians who have written on the subject before. There is some value in writing using modern humor and terminology, but in Greear's critique of churches today and telling of personal anecdotes really takes the focus off of the magnitude and infinite worth of God, which is definitely not his intent.For example, This is a quote from Greear that is something Piper has written volumes on, and Piper quotes Jonathan Edwards and Augustine:"Learning to be satisfied in Jesus will free you to enjoy everything else. Being fulfilled in Christ means that you no longer depend on other things for life and happiness. That means you can enjoy them, because you are no longer enslaved by them. The prospect of losing them doesn’t terrorize you. And you can say 'no' to them when they are not God’s will."I recommend the reader instead check out other works like A. W. Tozer's Attributes of God (compiled from Tozer's sermons) and John Pipers' Desiring God and Future Grace as a much more powerful look at how awesome God and the Gospel are. Those books do a much better job at magnifying God, in my opinion. In contrast, Greear's book leaves one with the sense of "am I doing this right? Maybe I should try harder." Grear quotes his "BFF" Tim Keller a lot, partially attributing his epiphany to Keller's sermons and writing. So, I'd recommend the Keller works and sermons referenced over this book as well.Grear's audience is basically churches in the Southern Baptist Convention. Grear grew up in the SBC, lived for two years as a Journeyman with the IMB in SE Asia, but apparently did not really discover the Gospel until afterwards when apparently he was exposed to the teaching of Tim Keller. His intention is to help individuals and the local church give up their tendencies towards working for God's approval and recognize that it is already given, and can only come from, Christ's sacrifice."True religion is when you serve God to get nothing else but more of God.""God could not love me any more than He does right now, because God could not love and accept Christ any more than He does, and God sees me in Christ...'Neither do I condemn you' precedes 'go and sin no more.' We almost always try to reverse those. We say, 'If you can manage to go and sin no more, then God will accept you.'"He is now pastor of the The Summit Church in NC, and his description of the giving and service-oriented nature of his congregation make it sound truly unique; Raleigh gives Greear a public service award in the book because his church members are found "everywhere" there is a need in the city. I do wonder, however, how stratified his church is across racial and income lines.I found Grear's chapter on idolotry to be good, it really summed up the message of Brad Bigney's Gospel Treason well. It also quotes heavily from David Powlison, as did Bigney."You worship whatever it is you deem most essential for life and happiness."There is also a chapter responding to what Greear sees as the imbalance of those pursuing a give-it-all-away lifestyle after reading David Platt's Radical (he sent the chapter to Platt, who dialogued with him about it, before publishing). Greear notes that looking at the NT as a whole, it's hard to come up with hard-and-fast rules for tithing, income level, going overseas, etc."The New Testament goes to meticulous lengths to avoid prescribing an amount believers should give. For example, in the gospel of Luke, at least three times Jesus commends a different amount."He shares six principles about money that "we should hold in reverent tension," including that God delights in our enjoyment of His gifts and that Jesus' radical generosity is both model and motivation for us to do likewise. Nonetheless, wealth-building can be wise. I found these chapters to be mostly void of a theology of work.My biggest concern was that he ignores the role of the church community in making decisions on personal financial matters. The church should be a safe place to talk about financial matters. If you're not sure if the house you're building is too big or whether you should sell or donate your old goods, then you should be able to talk to your small group or pastor about it. The Church in Acts modeled generosity and "sharing all things in common" required some transparency about what they had. That aspect is absent from most SBC churches, in my observation, and is missing from Greear's book as well. Likewise, we should not just preach the gospel to ourselves, as Greear recommends, but to each other as well.Another concern is on the "commandments" chapter. Greear writes that we are obedient out of gratitude for what Christ has done for us, but Piper argues strongly in Future Grace that this is not enough. We can't just run our cars on yesterday's gas, we have to keep filling up by understanding what God is doing and is going to do for us in Christ Jesus.He closes a book with a "fear" that it might contribute to a growing "self-righteousness among younger theologians who feel like understanding gospel-centeredness makes them more special in the eyes of God (oh, the irony!). I don't mean to come across that way in this review, I just wish people would spend time with older, wiser theologians who wrote long ago rather than try to reinvent the wheel.I give it 3 stars out of 5.

I would have to say that I looked forward to reading this book by Dr. JD Greear for quite some time. JD is a fellow pastor and a scholar and missionary (as if you could really be a pastor without also being somewhat of a scholar and missionary). He leads an incredible church that is making a difference in the world and is a personal hero of mine...even though we have never met and he couldn't pick me out of a lineup with me wearing a name tag. Still, I have listened to many of his messages, followed his visionary leadership with great interest and would hope that I might be able to get to know him personally one day.Much has been said in recent years about "the Gospel." Some seek to define it with theological and practical precision...to the point that the application of the gospel is left behind. Others have simply assumed that the gospel is only the "plan of salvation" and has little bearing on the lives of people who already believe. JD argues that the Gospel is far more than an invitation to believe; rather it is the power for living extraordinarily in Christ and for Christ (p.21). Greear stated, "...the gospel shouldn't just be a ticket to heaven but the core of our entire lives. When you have made your home in the gospel.[sic] You will be radically generous. You will show audacious faith. These things are not added after the gospel, they flow from the gospel."One of the arguments that Greear makes is that the gospel puts our lives in a proper perspective and context. In the gospel we are reminded that God alone makes us worthy and that any other pursuit of worthiness, by any means (including by religious accomplishment), is a type of functional and practical idolatry. One of my favorite quotes from the book is:True religion is when you serve God to get nothing else but more of God. (p.32)This quote reminds us that God is not a "tool" to pursue abundant life; rather life in Christ IS abundant life. Any pursuit other than Christ...satisfaction in anything else apart from Christ...is idolatry.Perhaps the greatest reminder about the Gospel is that it is not the story providing entrance into the Kingdom. It is the Mission Statement/Core value/Chief Pursuit/Defining "key" of a believer's life. The truth of Christ's salvation and the righteousness that comes with it, as well as the responsibility to pursue deeper application of His salvation in our lives...changes every element of our lives.Particularly helpful (and personally warranting an "Amen" from me as I read it) was Appendix 2. This was somewhat of an afterword and warning to those who would seek to correct the fine points of gospel understanding in others...to the exclusion of pursuing the gospel. As Greear noted, many people live the gospel without being well-versed in defining it with theological precision. [This resonated with me since I believe the Bible to be pastoral and not simply a proof text for theological supposition. I fear that many in Christian circles today want to major on minor nuances, endless conversations about fine points of theology, and wordsmithing doctrinal statements while failing to apply these doctrines personally. (Reminds me of the warnings of the Apostle Paul to Timothy.) Greear did a great service to all of us in warning all of us not to spend our lives seeking to define the gospel; but, to immerse ourselves in living the gospel.Hats off to Dr. Greear. A great read in a very readable format. Having listened to many of his messages via podcasts etc., I am convinced that this is a "from the heart" work and I am thankful for it...and for having the opportunity to read it. Thanks JD!! I highly recommend it.

A wonderfully honest and straight forward reminder of the power of the love Jesus has for us. It is humbling to realise how much we mess up and confuse our relationship with Jesus. A must read to get us back to the relationship Jesus wants to have with us.

Very much enjoyed.Incredibly helpful to me, my family, my church, my town.This would be a great book for any exploration of what Christianity is all about - for the religious or the irreligious.

very very good book

Excellent book. Loved it.

The first few chapters are fantastic. Inspiring and stirs me up towards Jesus. After that, it starts to become blah blah. Definitely some great stuff here, but the second half is weaker.