Central Abbotsford

As I mentioned a couple of weeks ago, Andrea and I had an opportunity to visit the province of Quebec for a week recently. The first few days we spent in Montreal, in a hotel in the heart of downtown, with a view looking northwest directly to Mount Royal sitting above the city. Our hotel sat across the street from a courtyard surrounded by the buildings of Place Ville Marie, with a unique art installation at the far side.

The installation is known as “The Ring” (or, en français, “L’Anneau”), and its name is apt: it is a 50,000-pound, 100-foot diameter, metal ring seemingly hovering in the air as it is suspended between two buildings at the north end of the courtyard. The Ring was installed in 2022, and, like most pieces of public art, was met with a mix of responses (especially given its $5,000,000 price tag). Some people voiced the opinion that it was cumbersome and unnecessary; a blight on the city that served as nothing more than a strange and/or useless new fixture in the skyline. Others viewed it as a curiosity; perhaps something of an oddity, but a relatively neutral addition; maybe even a “nice” one.

One resident of Montreal, though, was particularly hopeful about the symbolism of The Ring in their comments to a reporter, saying “I think it captures everything Montreal has to offer – it’s like a lens. You see us through this lens, we see Montreal through that lens.” Indeed, as I stood on the road outside the hotel, The Ring framed the natural beauty of Mount Royal perfectly, allowing the highest point of the city to appear even taller as it acted as backdrop to the downtown skyscrapers.

When it comes to the gospel of Jesus Christ as revealed in the Scriptures, there are, of course, many people who stand in opposition to it, rejecting God’s teaching as unnecessary and cumbersome. However, it is also dangerous to view the gospel as simply something that gets added to our lives, maybe even beneficially so. God’s intention for His children is not simply to add “Christian things” to their lives and go on as before. There is a reason why Paul chastises the Galatians by saying “Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?” (Galatians 3:3). The gospel is not a “value add proposition”.

No, the effect of the gospel is to radically change us in every way. Ephesians 2 tells us that one we walked following the course of the world, but that God, being rich in mercy, raised us from our spiritual deadness into abundant life with Christ. This life is something that should reshape everything about us! Indeed, the gospel acts as a lens through which we are called to view our entire existence. Our sins get viewed through this lens; our good deeds as well. Our relationship with God is mediated through what Christ has accomplished; our relationship with others, especially brothers and sisters in the faith, should be profoundly impacted by the reality that we share something much greater than could ever divide us.

What, then, does it mean to view our lives through a gospel lens? More practically, how do we do it, especially when we are faced with a decision? 

A simple start is to ask yourself the question “is what I am doing honouring the God who chose me, loved me, and gave His Son to save me?” The answer to that question can come from Scripture, from a conscience that has been imprinted by God’s truth, from the counsel of good and wise siblings and parents in the faith, or from a combination thereof. 

And, here is the gospel reality: there are times when we will not ask that question. There are times where we will arrive at the wrong answer to it. There are times when we will arrive at the right answer and follow a different course. All of these are sad and lamentable sins; the inevitable yet regrettable consequences of living in a broken world and as people who continue to pursue fleshly passions. Yet, the story does not end with our rebellion.

“My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.” (1 John 2:1-2)

The gospel lens does not diminish evil. Its presence in the world remains standing tall, like the skyscrapers that populate a skyline. But, the gospel lens frames the love of God as demonstrated in the mercy achieved through the works of Christ Jesus as much, much, greater than our sin. The gospel lens shows us how mercy triumphs over judgment – let us continue to strive to see the world through it.