The Great Gospel-Centered Crackup

January 24th,

Introduction

Yesterday I was discussing with some friends the nature of the reform collapse in the face of all our crazy-tuned times.

Reform guys are supposed to be the heady ones, the keepers of the big

things, and they went down before the most transparent lies. They went down like dry August

grass before a freshly sharpened sithe. And when I reference what I'm calling the most transparent

lies, I'm referring to white fragility, third wayism, lockdowns, BLM stuff, climate change, Ferguson, the vaccine jive, St. Georgia, Minneapolis,

masks, that whole convoluted bundle. Why did we fall for all that? And as I hasten to ask,

how come? The sin of gospel-centeredness. I speak of the sin of gospel-centeredness, but of course I

hasten to qualify. There is a sense in which

every faithful Christian is to be gospel-centered. We preach nothing but Christ and Him crucified.

1 Corinthians 2-2. Yes, as far as that goes, and amen. But the real issue is not whether the gospel is

central, but rather what it is central to. This is because there's another sense in which the devil

himself is gospel-centered. He wants the gospel to be centrally located, in the epistemic cage that he

has constructed for it. So when we are dealing with his machinations, the question is not,

what is at the center, but rather where the center is and where the circumference is. If the gospel is not central

to all of life, then it is the devil's version of gospel-centeredness. The devil wants the gospel

bound, and he does not mind at all if we tie it up at the center. But Paul's gospel, the one we are

supposed to be preaching, is not bound. 2.9. This means, if you catch my drift, that it goes everywhere.

You may think this is a harsh condemnation, but I dispute that. It is a hard word, I will give you

that. But it is not harsh at all. It is the only truth that keeps the way of repentance open.

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