How to Know You’re Operating Out of Gospel Security

I stepped off the stage and entered the room backstage.

The morning session of the conference had ended. I was relieved to have finished teaching. I was also a little anxious about how it had gone. 

Backstage, one of the recognizable speaker came over to me, put his hand on my shoulder, and began to share how the teaching had impacted him and began to affirm what he saw in me. 

As the youngest of the conference speaker line-up (and as the no-namer), that moment of affirmation meant the world to me and profoundly impacted me. 

On the one hand, I look back at that moment with fondness. It was a moment where I was reaffirmed of a gift others had called out in me previously.

On the other hand, enough time has passed where I can look back and ask myself some hard questions: Was the affirmation meaningful because it met a natural human need for encouragement? Or was I operating out of a deficiency? Perhaps a deficiency in gospel security?

A deficiency in gospel security happens when one is no longer operating out of the deep-seated belief in one’s core identity as a child of God. This creates a performer who needs to achieve and earn the love of God and respect of others around them. This leads to perpetual insecurity, fear, and exhaustion.

There are many Christians today who intellectually agree they belong to God without experiencing the empowering benefits of their core identity. It’s possible to affirm the concept of gospel security while being crippled by gospel-less insecurity.

So how do you know if you’re operating out of gospel security?

There are two evidences we see from the life and journey of the Apostle Paul.

1. Gospel security makes you crave input from others.

Notice what Paul shares he did after his radical conversion from killing Christians to following Jesus:

“Then after fourteen years I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, taking Titus along also. I went up according to a revelation and presented to them the gospel I preach among the Gentiles, but privately to those recognized as leaders. I wanted to be sure I was not running, and had not been running, in vain.” (Galatians 2:1-2)

Paul didn’t immediately start a podcast platform after his conversion. Instead, he slowly and steadily moved across the concentric circles of relationships from his friends to those of greater influence. 

Why those of greater influence? He wanted feedback and input. He “wanted to make sure” he had been preaching the right gospel. He wanted the input of others to ensure his ministry efforts were aiming at the right target. 

This is a key mark of gospel security: Those rooted in their God-given identity can handle feedback. More so, they crave feedback. They ask for input. They already know who they belong to and their desire to improve for the sake of others far outpaces their need to tend to their ego.

How do you take feedback? Do you ask for input? Do you value the insights of others? Or are you threatened or offended by how the words of another expose your performative efforts?

Those who are operating out of gospel security are frustrated at the thought of not serving others better without being offended by the input of others.

2. Gospel security makes you content - immune to approval addiction.

Paul desired input but he didn’t need anyone’s approval to ascribe to him worth. He already knew who he was in God.

“Now from those recognized as important (what they once were makes no difference to me; God does not show favoritism)—they added nothing to me.” (Galatians 2:6)

Why would Paul say, “…they added nothing to me”? Was Paul on an ego trip? No, Paul simply knew who he was before God, and he knew the domains of stewardship given to him came from God.

Paul simply knew he belonged to God and that God had entrusted things to him. There was no human being in the world who could add to that which Paul already knew.

This is another key evidence of gospel security: You possess quiet confidence in how treasured you are by God and with what He has entrusted to you. This doesn’t erase the need for valuable input from those around you. We can feel excited when we’re affirmed by others seeing what God is doing in us. It can even mean a lot when it comes from someone we admire. There’s just a difference between it meaning something versus it meaning everything.

Conclusion

So what was I that day?

I was probably a mixed bag of gospel security and gospel-less insecurity. And if I’m really honest, I’m probably a mixed bag still today more than I want to admit.

Yes, I have grown to experience more greatly the effects of my core identity as His child. I am far more gospel-secure today than I was before, but I’m still on the journey.

If this resonates and you also find yourself on the journey, my encouragement would be two-fold:

1. Get comfortable living in the tension of the two. On this side of eternity, we’re in the lifelong process of being transformed to be like Him. What does that mean? It’s going to take time. There will be days when you feel like you’re very gospel secure. There will be other days when you experience gospel amnesia. He is gracious. Embrace the duality as a process.

2. Grow uncomfortable at not experiencing the gospel regularly. While gospel security will feel like a tug of war, we ought to strive and seek to experience the gospel regularly. This is where spiritual practices come into play. We should never get comfortable with feeling deadened to the gospel. We should not tell ourselves, “I’m just living in the tension of the two.” We should ask the Lord, “Help me to never lose the wonder. Strengthen my heart to experience that which I know!”

One day, we will step off the stage of human history and enjoy Him forever in the New Heavens and the New Earth.

Let’s get used to experiencing gospel security now. It’s the appetizer for the feast to come.