Jared C. Wilson - The Gospel-Driven Church: Uniting Church Growth Dreams with the Metrics of Grace

In The Gospel-Driven Church, my friend Jared Wilson encourages us to consider the full weight of the gospel as the driver of the local church rather than metrics, which can be helpful but dont tell the whole story. By changing the driver to the gospel, we are able to change the movement from come and see to go and tell. This book should soothe weary leaders bones and free them to point passionately to the beauty of Jesuss life, death, and resurrection.

Matt Chandler, lead pastor of the Village Church, Flower Mound, TX, president of the Acts 29 Network

Jareds understanding of church history, theology, and pastoral ministry are combined with his passion for the gospel and the local church in this helpful and insightful book. While there continues to be a desire to change the scorecard, Jared paints a picture of what that looks like for ministry leaders. A must read for those in ministry leadership.

Eric Geiger, senior pastor of Mariners Church, Irvine, CA

The Gospel-Driven Church serves as a sobering reminder that a growing attendance does not necessarily mean a growing number of disciples of Jesus. In this book, Jared gives an honest assessment of the modern church and a solid argument for why we need to adjust our idea of how to measure a churchs health. Pastors would greatly benefit from using this tool to make sure their church is moving in the right direction.

Robby Gallaty, senior pastor of Long Hollow Baptist Church, Hendersonville, TN, and founder of Replicate Ministries

With humor, wisdom, and an easy-but-challenging writing style, Jared Wilson has offered a much-needed wake-up call to the American church. Whether youre a church planter, a pastor, or simply a Christian who desires to see your church become as healthy as possible, The Gospel-Driven Church serves as a road map to help shake off the shackles of cultural relevance and transform our churches into what God has always intended them to be.

Matt Carter, pastor of preaching at the Austin Stone Community Church, Austin, TX

Jared Wilson contends that many churches remain unconsciously in the grip of the attractional worldview. Freedom comes by fearless inventory and swapping out the metrics by which we measure success. As one expects, Wilson is clear, winsome, and pulls no punches. Church leader, if you are looking to understand how God evaluates your hard work and whether it will produce lasting fruit, buy this book!

Dave Harvey, president of Sojourn Network, teaching pastor at Summit Church, Fort Myers, FL, founder of AmICalled.com

Jared has put into words what so many of us have felt in our guts. This book is the Magna Carta for gospel-centered change.

Clint Pressley, senior pastor of Hickory Grove Baptist Church, Charlotte, NC

Jareds Prodigal Church helped us see the problem of pragmatism in the attractional church. If it works, then work it doesnt work anymore (if it ever did!). Multiplying noses and nickels doesnt equal faithfulness or fruitfulness. Now he offers some practical solutions to put the gospel in the drivers seat. If youre convinced that the church needs more gospel and less gimmickry, if you want less Christian dos and more of Christs done in your preaching, if you want the gospel to be more than a tagline at the end of message and more of an ecosystem at the center of church life, then The Gospel-Driven Church will help you get there.

Chris Lewis, lead pastor of Foothill Church, Glendora, CA

Its not enough to embrace the gospel. Our churches need to be shaped by the gospel. If you want to understand how to make this transition, you will love this book. Im grateful for Jareds theological and pastoral wisdom. I wish I could have read this book twenty years ago.

Darryl Dash, pastor of Liberty Grace Church, Toronto, Canada, author of How to Grow

After twenty-five years of church ministry as a gospel-loving evangelical, I found The Gospel-Driven Church timely, challenging, and stimulating. This book is a call to the entertainment-addicted, consumeristic church culture of the West to abandon its growth fetish and recenter on the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Steve Jeffrey, senior minister at St. Pauls Church, Sydney, Australia.

ALSO BY JARED C. WILSON

Supernatural Power for Everyday People: Experiencing

Gods Extraordinary Spirit in Your Ordinary Life

The Imperfect Disciple: Grace for People Who

Cant Get Their Act Together

Unparalleled: How Christianitys Uniqueness Makes It Compelling

The Story of Everything: How You, Your Pets, and the

Swiss Alps Fit into Gods Plan for the World

The Prodigal Church: A Gentle Manifesto against the Status Quo

The Wonder-Working God: Seeing the Glory of Jesus in His Miracles

The Storytelling God: Seeing the Glory of Jesus in His Parables

The Pastors Justification: Applying the Work

of Christ in Your Life and Ministry

Gospel Deeps: Reveling in the Excellencies of Jesus

Gospel Wakefulness

Your Jesus Is Too Safe

ZONDERVAN

The Gospel-Driven Church

Copyright 2019 by Jared C. Wilson

ePub Edition February 2019: ISBN 978-0-3105-7788-1

Requests for information should be addressed to:

Zondervan, 3900 Sparks Dr. SE, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49546

Unless otherwise noted, Scripture quotations are taken from the ESV Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version). Copyright 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked NIV are from the Holy Bible, New International Version, NIV. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.Zondervan.com. The NIV and New International Version are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.

Scripture quotations marked CSB have been taken from the Christian Standard Bible, Copyright 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Christian Standard Bible and CSB are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers.

Any internet addresses (websites, blogs, etc.) and telephone numbers in this book are offered as a resource. They are not intended in any way to be or imply an endorsement by Zondervan, nor does Zondervan vouch for the content of these sites and numbers for the life of this book.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any meanselectronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or any otherexcept for brief quotations in printed reviews, without the prior permission of the publisher.

Published in association with Donald W. Gates Jr. of the Gates Group.

Cover design: Emily Weigel

Cover art: Shutterstock

Interior design: Kait Lamphere

19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 /LSC/ 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Information about External Hyperlinks in this ebook

Please note that footnotes in this ebook may contain hyperlinks to external websites as part of bibliographic citations. These hyperlinks have not been activated by the publisher, who cannot verify the accuracy of these links beyond the date of publication.

This book is dedicated to David and Sarah McLemore, dear friends who embody the virtues of conviction, courage, and commitment, and to the memory of Natalie Casco, a dear saint who taught me much about the power of grace in the life of the church.