The Deeply Formed Life: Five Transformative Values to Root Us in the Way of Jesus

by Rich Villodas

For many, the gospel is their ticket to the afterlife: “When I die, I go to heaven because of what Jesus has done for me.” For others, the gospel is connected to a particular understanding of the death and resurrection of Jesus. Along this line of thinking, the gospel is reduced to a particular theology of atonement. Herein lies one of our greatest challenges. When the essence of the gospel is stripped down to the afterlife or to a glorious but strictly individual personal decision of faith, it’s not what Jesus described as the good news about his kingdom come. And predictably, there’s no real urgency to see lives oriented toward a more loving and just way of being in the world. Our understanding of the gospel will be either Christ’s kingdom catalyst for racial justice and reconciliation, or a conformity to this world’s impetus for a fragmented and divided society. Surely, the gospel is good news, but good news about what? It is my conviction that the gospel at its core is not merely the good news of a soteriological transaction (a fancy way of saying “getting saved”). The gospel at its core is centrally about the story and victory of Jesus; the risen and enthroned Lord is our good news. And further, this gospel has specific purposes for the healing of our world. One