James Hein’s “A Guide to Gospel-Thinking”

Nobody is naturally Christian. By grace, God transforms non-believing, unregenerate, dead souls into living children. It’s a miracle, not a natural process.

Even upon conversion, a believer still has, for lack of a better term, “unregenerate chambers” of their heart. This is precisely what the father of the demon-possessed boy in Mark’s Gospel was expressing when he exclaimed to Jesus, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!” (Mark 9:24) Tremendously self-aware, the man is humbly acknowledging that although he knows the basic information about Jesus Christ, his natural flesh is fighting the incredible claims. He wants to believe that the good news of Jesus is true, but he cannot will himself past his human sensibilities. 

That man’s perceptive admission is the spirit I try to channel in writing.

How are you affected?

As a pastor for just over a decade, I’ve worked with loads of Christians who understand the basic claims of the gospel, but many of whom really struggle to use it as a resource beyond a “ticket to paradise.” The day-to-day practical value and transformational power of the gospel remain largely untapped.

I have found that a helpful question to ask is: “How does the grace of God practically affect…?”

• my career
• my romantic relationship
• my parenting
• my friendships
• my finances
• my physical health
• my identity and self-image
• my guilt and anxiety
• my life pursuits

The grace of God does affect these things, but I’ve found that Christians don’t seem to naturally stumble across these conclusions. They tend to only find them in a community, with guidance.

As a result, I find that my writing tends to have the goal of bringing common cultural issues under the lens of the gospel. It’s sort of like a visit to the optometrist. I try to click the lenses of applicable Bible passages and teachings into place in order to bring life issues into focus, with the goal of seeing the grace of Jesus more clearly and moving towards his beauty. 

Irreligious, Religious, and Gospel View

Along the way, I try to make a distinction between three viewpoints: the irreligious view, the religious view, and the gospel view.

An irreligious person sees morality as relative, believes people are born basically good but sometimes hurt others or themselves when put in bad circumstances, and acknowledges no higher authority than man. Irreligion is perhaps best characterized by rule-breaking self-indulgence.

A religious person sees morality as purely black and white, believes there are good people and bad people, and while he acknowledges God as the ultimate authority, he believes that because of his good behavior he is more deserving of God’s blessing than the “bad” people. Religion is perhaps best characterized by rule-keeping self-righteousness.

A gospel-thinking person understands the black and white of morality but recognizes there is a shaded spectrum of motives, believes we are inherently born broken and powerless to put ourselves back together, and acknowledges Jesus Christ as both Lord and Savior. Gospel-thinkers are perhaps best characterized by humility about self and confidence in Christ.

From which viewpoint(s) do you tend to process?

While most of us fit into one of these categories on a certain social issue, almost none of us fits into any one of these categories on every issue. So, for instance, it’s entirely possible for someone to be fairly loose on the Bible’s sexual ethic, but fairly strict on rules regarding dietary habits, though both are related to how we manage our bodies.

Or, it’s possible for someone to be fairly loose on the Bible’s stance regarding the sanctity of unborn life, but fairly strict on the Bible’s exhortation to help the marginalized souls of society, though both are related to human value.

Or, someone might be very loose on their belief that freedom of speech should allow people to speak their mind, but fairly strict on their belief that authorities should be respected. We, humans, are often walking contradictions. Much of our preference and passion depends on temperament, personal upbringing, and the conviction of certain life experiences.

How Gospel-Thinking Changes Everything

The point of my writing is to try to help Christians shepherd more and more of their thoughts from the “irreligious” or manmade “religious” categories into the “gospel-thinking” realm.

I want believers to see the foolishness and futility of operating according to the natural realm, and instead live by faith. I want believers to be so overwhelmed by the undeserved love of God that it converts the way they think about EVERYTHING. I’m convinced that the more those mental switches get flipped, the more brightly those life lights will shine. The Bible presents a more beautiful truth than what this world offers. Christians just need a little help seeing it.