"For [Paul], being 'in Christ'... means 'belonging to the people of God as redefined around the Messiah.'... a specifically covenantal way of speaking" (pg 152)."The Gospel reveals... God's covenant faithfulness" (153).
"The Gospel is not... a set of techniques for making people Christians.... The Gospel is the announcement that Jesus is Lord - Lord of the world, Lord of the cosmos, Lord of the earth, of the ozone layer, of whales and waterfalls, of trees and tortoises.... we cannot make that announcement without seeking to bring that Lordship to bear over every aspect of the world.... there is no area of existence or life... that is exempt from the summons to allegiance. Perhaps one reason why some have shied away from seeing Jesus' Messiahship as a central part of Paul's Gospel has been the tacit recognition that it is much easier to turn Christianity into... a private system of piety which doesn't impinge on the public world." (153-4).
"This is not a matter... of 'bringing politics into religion.' It is bringing the whole world under the Lordship of Christ" (155).
"[The Gospel] is not a take-it-or-leave-it thing. No herald in the ancient world would say, 'Tiberius Caesar has become Emperor: accept him if it suits you.' The Gospel is, then, the announcement about Jesus, not in itself the offer of a new experience. Whatever new experiences result from giving one's allegiance to Jesus are just that, a bunch of new experiences" (157).
It seems Wright's main concern is avoiding the relegating of spirituality to a ghetto irrelevant to public life, which happens a lot in the evangelical world. He isn't saying the offer of the Gospel, or the resulting experiences are unimportant; he just wants to accent the public announcement of Jesus being Lord.
This was interesting to read right after finishing Lord of the Rings, where the hobbits scour the Shire by announcing the downfall of Sauron and Saruman. That announcement had lots of effect on how the shire turned out. Frodo and Sam didn't just go to church more often.
Wright's concern is the public impact of the Gospel, I think.
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