The Beauty of the Gospel

What do we mean when we say that the Christian gospel is beautiful? Beauty, while escaping precise definition, is a name for what draws us in, attracts our attention, not in a superficial way of merely catching our eye, but of a deeper, more holistic yearning. Our whole being is drawn towards the beautiful by the beautiful. If the gospel is beautiful, then, it is because the person and story of Jesus captures us in this very way. We find every dimension of ourselves drawn to this person. Jesus did many things: he was born, he learned, he taught, he healed, he comforted, he challenged, he died, and he was raised again. And when we read this story and see it lived out in the lives of fellow Christians we are drawn into it not just because it is true, but also centrally because it is beautiful. In fact, the truth of the gospel is its beauty and its beauty is its truth.

This is not to say that the gospel only appears as alluring. When it addresses humanity in humanity’s sin, the gospel might be experienced as challenging and difficult. And this is nowhere more evident than with the cross. Such a shameful and torturous death does not seem beautiful. But here, most of all, beauty shines forth. Jesus Christ, crucified for love, compassion, and infinite generosity, surrounded by sinners, dying in the midst of sinful world, but for the sake of the world, and rising to resurrected life, victorious over sin and death. Creation is restored, all things are being made new by God’s act. Beautify shines forth in creation through God’s saving action in Christ.

And so this beauty is here at KPU, too. In a small group of students joined in prayer, the beauty of Christ is present. We are drawn to each other here on campus because of this person, this story. In it we see the beauty of creation and so see it, too, in the faces of each other. And in different ways, this Christian community bears witness to the beauty of the gospel. Love for others, commitment to community, prayer and engagement with scripture, contemplating the figure of Christ, being attentive to the beautiful moments of everyday existence – all these things we at Kwantlen Christian Fellowship endeavor to live into. And if the beauty of the gospel is made known, in however small a way, then the truth and goodness of Christ are surely present, too.