My Red-Letter Rehab

Putting Jesus Back at the Center of Theology

I can still recite the Roman Road from memory. Romans 3:23, Romans 6:23, Romans 5:8, Romans 10:9-10…the verses flow out of me like muscle memory, drilled into my brain from countless youth group sessions. For most of my evangelical upbringing, these four verses weren’t just scripture. They were the gospel itself.

The Apostle I Knew Better Than Christ

Growing up evangelical meant growing up in Paul’s world. Sunday sermons dissected Romans. Bible studies worked through Ephesians and Philippians. Youth camp talks centered on Paul’s conversion and missionary journeys. His systematic theology became our systematic theology. His occasional letters to specific first-century churches became our universal doctrines.

I could quote Paul’s definition of love from 1 Corinthians 13 backward and forward, yet I struggled to remember Jesus’ actual words about loving enemies. I could defend Paul’s complex arguments about justification by faith in my sleep, but I’d barely noticed that Jesus talked about mo…