I have decided that once a week I will attempt to post a quote from a book I am reading, or have read in the past.

Today’s quote comes from a book hot off the press, “The Gospel Driven Life,” by Michael Horton.

Picking up on a phrase from Augustine, the Protestant Reformers said that as fallen sinners we are all “curved in on ourselves.”  Born with a severe case of spiritual scoliosis, our spines are twisted so that all we can see are our own immediate felt needs, desires, wants, and momentary gratifications.  But the gospel makes us stand erect, looking up to God in faith and out to the world and our neighbors in love and service.  Not every piece of news can do that, but the gospel can (p.20).

Like a branch that has been bent out of shape, we fall back naturally to being curved in on ourselves unless we are being pulled back constantly to raise our eyes up to God in faith as he has clothed himself in the gospel of his Son….  Only the radical news concerning Jesus Christ can distract us from all the trivial pursuits and transform us from the inside out.  Only the gospel can cause such a radical reevaluation of our core identity that we’re willing, like Paul, to throw away what we thought was a great resume in exchange for being found in Christ (p. 22).

It is no wonder that people become bored with church and assume that they can get along well enough in life without it.  We need to see God as the headliner again, instead of ourselves.  It is not we who must find a supporting role for God in our personal and social campaigns for spiritual, moral, and therapeutic well-being.  We need to stop and listen to God’s surprise announcement about what he has done to save sinners like us.  The only thing that the church can provide to the world that is truly unique is the gospel.  Only the gospel brings a new creation into this present age of sin and death.  That is the basic message of this book (p. 22-23).