The Centrality of Christ in Proclaiming the Gospel

The Gospel is Christ; hence to argue for the centrality of Christ in proclaiming the Gospel seems as absurd as arguing for the centrality of food when promoting dining. Surely in dining we may have peripherals like etiquette and utensils, but we can survive without the peripherals; we cannot survive without the food. Likewise in evangelism we may utilize techniques and strategies to present the Bread of Life, but too often our evangelism focuses on the method instead of the Mediator.

“Proclaiming the Gospel” assumes three units: the one proclaiming, the proclamation itself, and the one receiving the proclamation. All three must be Christ-saturated.

First, the messenger must be centered in Christ. Yes, it is possible to preach in the power of the flesh, with “enticing words of man’s wisdom” and without the presence of power (1 Corinthians 2:4). Waiters can be so busy about the duty of serving others that they fail to eat themselves; soon they will not be serving others. Many people have been born again through the witness of powerless preachers (because the power is in the Person proclaimed), but the evangelists who are faithful and fruitful to the end are those who have walked with Christ and are saturated with Him. They seem to win people by the very aroma they bring into a room—to them to live is Christ, so proclaiming Him is supernaturally natural to them. It is a delight, not a duty. They don’t need a rehearsed speech; they are always turning conversations to Christ.

The proclamation itself is defined in 1 Corinthians 15:1-8, when Paul declared the Gospel he preached (and the Gospel we must preach). It is not a pithy presentation like “the four spiritual laws,” “the three steps to Heaven,” “the two destinations,” or “the one reality”; it is merely and magnificently Christ crucified for our sins, buried, resurrected and seen by credible hundreds according to the Scriptures. Paul preached this message knowing that it would make most Jews stumble and most Greeks puffed up in their self-proclaimed wisdom (1 Corinthians 1:23). How easy it might have been to water it down or soften it up based on his audience. Certainly he adapted his introductory comments based on different situations, but he always came around to our guilt and God’s grace, our condemnation and the cross, our sin and the only possible Saviour.

The one receiving the proclamation is Christ-destitute at the core. His problem is himself; his solution is Christ. We must never size up a sinner and try to gauge the potential of his conversion. We tend to see with the eyes of flesh and think “this guy would make a great Christian” or “that guy will never turn to Christ.” That is a Christless way to look at the lost. The first statement assumes some natural merit in the sinner and the second denies the power of the Saviour. No, we who proclaim must preach the whole truth in faith, believing the impossible and expecting conversions.

If our proclaiming the Gospel is not centered in Christ, it is not proclaiming the Gospel at all.