I am a preacher of the gospel of Christ

Myron Augsburger, former President of Eastern Mennonite Seminary and brother of one of my Fuller Seminary profs (David), in 1983:

I believe in justice: but I am not a preacher of the gospel of justice, but the Gospel of Christ who calls us to justice. I believe in love, but I am not a preacher of the gospel of love, but the Gospel of Christ who calls us to love. I am committed to peace, but I am not a preacher of the gospel of peace, but the Gospel of Christ who calls us to peace. I believe in the value of the simple life, but I am not the preacher of the simple life, but of the Gospel of Christ that calls us to the simple life. Let us beware of the ultimate plagiarism of borrowing some great concepts from Jesus then running off proclaiming these concepts and not sharing the Christ that empowers these concepts.

With this addition from Frank Viola:

If I were writing this, the only thing I’d change is the last line. I’d change it to “and not sharing the Christ who embodies these concepts.”

The truth is, Jesus Christ doesn’t just empower us to live out these spiritual virtues, Christ IS justice, love, peace, holiness, etc. That’s a life-changing revelation that’s little known today.

Thanks to Jeremy Del Rio for the quote and addition.