THE GOSPEL-DRIVEN LIFE

Being Good News People in a Bad News World

MICHAEL HORTON

Baker Books

a division of Baker Publishing Group

Grand Rapids, Michigan

© 2009 by Michael Horton

Published by Baker Books

a division of Baker Publishing Group

P.O. Box 6287, Grand Rapids, MI 49516-6287

www.bakerbooks.com

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—for example, electronic, photocopy, recording—without the prior written permission of the publisher. The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Horton, Michael Scott.

The Gospel-driven life: being good news people in a bad news world / Michael Horton.

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references.

ISBN 978-0-8010-1319-5 (cloth)

1. Christian life. 2. Evangelicalism. I. Title.

BV4501.3.H677 2009

248′.5—dc22

2009021356

Unless otherwise noted, Scripture is taken from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture marked NRSV is taken from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture marked NKJV is taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

To Lisa, for her partnership in the gospel-driven life

CONTENTS

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Looking Up, Looking Out: Breaking News

1. The Front-Page God: Checking the Headlines

2. The Real Crisis

3. The Big Story

4. Getting the Story Straight

5. Don’t Just Do Something, Sit There! Finding Yourself in the Story

6. The Promise-Driven Life

Looking Around, Looking Ahead: A Cross-Cultural Community

7. News of War and Peace: God’s Politics for a New Creation

8. How the Good News Creates a Cross-Cultural Community

9. The Health Page: Feasting in a Fast-Food World

10. Today’s Headline: The Church in Exile

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I owe special thanks once again to Robert Hosack and Robert Hand, along with the rest of the Baker team, for their assistance and improvements along the way. I am also grateful to my colleagues and students at Westminster Seminary California as well as to my brothers and sisters at Christ United Reformed Church in San Diego. They offer a consistent source of encouragement, instruction, and joy for my family and me, and provide a concrete expression of the message in this book. Of course, I owe the greatest earthly gratitude to my wife Lisa and my children—James, Olivia, Matthew, and Adam—who are constant sources of inspiration.