#4 - A place that's centered on the Gospel

     We don't want the story of The Gospel to be the hidden agenda of The Journey, but rather the blatantly explicit one.  I would argue that this Gospel-focused agenda, though it's necessary, is a hard mindset to maintain.  So many distractions exist within church cultures.  We see Gospel centrality as a crucial hope for The Journey Church of Marietta.

     Ultimately we want to translate Gospel truth into our culture here in the Mid-Ohio Valley using a language and methods people can identify with (Paul defines this approach in 1 Corinthians 9:19-23).  This idea is referred to as "contextualizing" the Gospel message.  However, this needs to be a very intentional process as there are dangers with contextualization that can lead to compromise.  In other words, it's important that a church's contextualization efforts are NOT about giving people what they want or telling them what they want to hear.  Contextualizing the Gospel means recognizing the questions to life that the people you are ministering to are asking and then giving them God's answers to those questions (again, it's not about what they want to hear).

"It's not about what they want to hear"

     Churches and especially pastors can quickly begin to compromise Gospel truth when trying to gather people by the masses.  Competitions even form with churches resulting in a comparison game that churchgoers and pastors alike love to play.  With many denominational styles of worship, it often feels like churches compete against each other for people rather than pray for each other and God's will.  It's because pursuits of a booming church with cutting edge ideas appeal to our desires like an American dream.  Much like the California gold rush, this temptation tricks our hearts into desiring the proclamation of self or an institution over the proclamation of the Gospel. 

     Pride always gives birth to this deceitful thinking and leads us to desire a "shiny" church full of elaborate tactics and seemingly fail-proof programming.  While this approach may in fact draw a crowd and even generate enthusiasm, it exposes an effort that is trying to make the Gospel relevant without relying on the power of the Gospel itself.  I'd wager some ministries exist in this mindset without even realizing it.  This outward-to-inward planning drives us to be risky and different in an effort to polish up church so God might be able to actually accomplish something. Yet think about this concept for a moment, can you imagine trying to make the Gospel relevant?  Is that goal not flawed in its roots?

"Can you imagine trying to make the Gospel relevant?"

     The Journey Church desires to take an inward-to-outward approach to ministry.  We don't need to make the Gospel relevant.  The Gospel IS relevant, that's why we pursue ministries that bring glory, honor, praise, and attention to Jesus.  It should be noted that the practical application and methods of each approach could in some ways even resemble each other, but the heart and mindsets are extremely different.  An inward-to-outward approach puts us in a position of humility that we rightfully belong in.  This isn't about our abilities or even our capabilities but rather about what God wants to accomplish in the Mid-Ohio Valley for His purposes.  We want the heart of John the Baptist as he says in reference to Jesus in John 3:30, "He must increase, but I must decrease."

     How do we do this then?  We proclaim the Gospel, it's our lifeline.

     "Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God," (Mark 1:14 ESV)

     "When they had preached the gospel to that city and had made many disciples, they returned to Lystra and to Iconium and to Antioch,"
(Acts 14:21 ESV)

     "So I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome."
(Romans 1:15 ESV)

     "It was revealed to them that they were serving not themselves but you, in the things that have now been announced to you through those who preached the good news to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, things into which angels long to look.  (1 Peter 1:12 ESV)

     We want to be focused on teaching God's story rather than trying to fix and transform people through positive thinking, self-help ideologies, or catchy philosophies.  We want to teach God's redemption of His fallen creation and about how though we are sinners He has reconciled us back to Himself through Jesus on the cross (1 Corinthians 15:1-2).   We want to continuously, repetitively, and passionately share this message with whatever methods we use.

"We want to continuously, repetitively, and passionately share this message with whatever methods we use."

    We long to see a community formed around this message that we believe.  The Gospel is the means by which we experience God's awesome power (Romans 1:16)!  We desire to see a community grow with this focus as it's heartbeat.  As we dive deeper into God's story we know we will be prodded to works of love, mercy, justice, renewal, and prayer according to His will for this area and beyond.  

     Our hope can't be in our praise band's ability to maintain a steady crescendo into a chorus line or a speakers ability to utilize acronyms in a new innovative thought provoking way.  The reason is because human efforts can't regenerate a heart, sanctify a life, or transform anyone no matter how clever or talented these efforts may be.  However, there is one who has this power, Jesus.  It's through what Christ alone has already done that we hope to see lives changed for eternity.  It is with this understanding that we engage this region.  It is with this understanding and hope of God's story that the Psalmist is compelled to sing:

     "Not to us, O LORD, not to us, but to your name give glory,
for the sake of your steadfast love and your faithfulness!"
(Psalm 115:1 ESV)

     God, you alone are our hope in this effort! Please use The Journey Church community to fulfill your purposes and build your kingdom!  God, You alone reign in the Mid-Ohio Valley! Please use us for Your glory!

Cody Parman

Hope #1 - A place where nobody walks alone.
Hope #2 - A place where we all use the same map.
Hope #3 - A place to begin and a place to restart.