God's Story -- The Simplicity of the Gospel

I'm amazed when I read how Paul "declares the gospel"
(1 Cor 15).

I'm struck by the directness of focus on the historic events of Christ's death, burial and resurrection, and on the factually objective reports of eyewitnesses, which Paul is able to recount in detailed chronological order.

I'm also struck on the other hand by Paul's lack of detailed focus on analyzing or attempting to control the psychological state of his hearers.  Nothing directs his hearers' attention inwardly to themselves.  The focus of the gospel presentation -- the focus of faith -- is Christ.  The (factual) story of the gospel recounts and depicts Christ's saving acts, and portrays Christ himself clothed in the gospel as the object of worship.  This is a story to be received with gratitude and held onto with perseverance.

All this suggests a hierarchy of values for doctrinal knowledge: No matter the fineness of doctrinal detail into which we may delve, all that depth of knowledge must support the telling  of God's Story of redemption in a manner full of that awe which is at the core of divine worship.

Christian fellowship which emphasizes doctrinal knowledge and a highly intellectual sense of introspection can invert this hierarchy of values.  God's Story, in its stark simplicity, is taken for granted, and the technical details of the depths of doctrinal or experiential knowledge become the central focus.  The consequence:  Divine worship decays.  The vision of Christ's glory dims because God's Story is too simple.  The awe is lost.

Things must turn the other way.  Yes, some believers are called to plumb the depths, but the depths they plumb must support the Story in the mind of the church.  The study of the depths must be framed by the Story, for the Story is the core of our worship, forever and ever.

This has implications for the corporate worship of the church, for the preaching of the Word, and for the administration of the sacraments.

May God the Spirit pervade our churches, bringing pure worship, full of awe, through faith in God's Story of redemption, told from Genesis to Revelation.