Why is preaching ‘just’ the Gospel not sufficient for addressing the problems of our society and culture? How can Christians refuse the temptation to remove Gospel proclamation from cultural engagement? In this video, David Platt offers three reasons why preaching ‘just’ the Gospel is not sufficient for everyday life. For Christians, there is a strong temptation to disconnect the Gospel from political, social and cultural issues. However, Platt challenges believers to pursue the faithful application of Gospel truth to every issue – to marriage, abortion, poverty, trafficking, sexual immorality, and so many other problems Christians encounter. As such, Christians are called to practice Gospel-centered trust, focusing on His honor and glory as we refuse to disconnect the Gospel from cultural issues.
- Avoid Gospel Disconnect
- Apply Gospel Truth
- Practice Gospel-Centered Trust
Why Can’t We Just Preach the Gospel
I think we have a dangerous tendency to disconnect the gospel from political, social, cultural issues, not realizing that the truths of the gospel inform the way we understand political, social, cultural issues. You think about the fundamental truths of the gospel, who God is, who we are, how we’ve rebelled against God, the effects of that in a fallen world, how Christ has come to this fallen world to make a way for us to be reconciled to God, and what it means to trust in him, follow him with our lives.
When you take those truths and you begin to apply them to social or what we would think of as political issues. Take abortion for example. And people think of this as a political issue, but this is a first and foremost a God issue. This is the God of the universe who is creating and crafting children in the womb of a mom, and he’s designed all of this process for his glory to bring to life someone created in his image.
Gospel Truths Affect Our Worldview
So when we realize those gospel truths, that affects the way we view a political issue like abortion. And across the board, right? My aim in this book is to show how each of these social issues, or even some that we would think of this is political issues, at the root hit at the fundamental foundations of who God is, who we are, who Christ is, what Christ has done, and what it means to trust in him in a culture where these issues are so prevalent.
David Platt serves as a pastor in metro Washington, D.C. He is the founder of Radical.
David received his Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and is the author of Don’t Hold Back, Radical, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, Before You Vote, as well as the multiple volumes of the Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary series.
Along with his wife and children, he lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area.
