Guard the Good Deposit

24 • Guard the Good Deposit: The Great Tradition for the Whole Church

Freedom to Minister the Gospel Faithfully Christ has entrusted to us the very words of life, the Gospel of his Kingdom. Substitute versions of the Gospel abound. We see gospels of prosperity, self-help, political agenda, and many others in the Church today. Every culture is liable to give rise to its own varieties of a false gospel. The Holy Spirit frees us to take the Gospel everywhere and to do what we must so that people can understand and embrace it (see 1 Cor. 9.19–23). However, we must never tamper with the truth itself! The extreme freedom of the Gospel means that we must know the truth and we must have clear ways to pass on the truth. How do we ensure faithfulness to the truth? Do we send everyone to seminary or Bible college for several years? Do we encourage everyone to read certain texts and listen to certain lectures? Maybe we invite everyone to attend certain conferences? The Great Tradition offers us a more viable solution. The rule of faith serves both as guide and guardrail in the understanding and proclamation of the Gospel of the Kingdom. The service of the Word and Table retells and reenacts the Gospel for the gathered Church. The Church Year paints the Gospel over our whole lives year after year. Embracing the Great Tradition frees the whole Church to minister the Gospel faithfully!

Freedom to Multiply Faithful Laborers The Lord is raising up a generation of laborers for his Church who simply break traditional molds and defy conventional models of training. How does the Church