I wrote an article for the Nov/Dec Issue of Outreach Magazine where I shared a few thoughts on preaching the gospel and living the gospel, particularly as it relates to the poor. (If you have not subscribed, click here to do so and you can read the whole issue.)
Jesus not only preached the gospel to the spiritually blind, hungry, oppressed and poor, he also demonstrated the gospel by acts of love that met the needs of those who were literally blind, hungry, oppressed and poor. There is much we can learn from Jesus here. His miracles were not simply testimonies to his divine power, but reflections of his divine love and compassion. I hope you will consider this issue with me as we enter into this holiday season. You can read the article below in its entirety.
Speaking of Jesus and Justice
Every church deals with "it." Some deal with it by referral to the agency down the street. Others find token ways to say they're dealing with it, when really they're not. Some send a few bucks overseas so someone else can deal with it. Most deal with it by not dealing with it at all. "It" is poverty. Some see it as the government's responsibility. Others hold to the historic and biblical precedent that family and the Church care for the poor. Yet, today's evangelical churches in America have often been unengaged in dealing with poverty. My own experience has underscored the truth that to be faithful to Scripture, churches must deal with it.
Out of Buffalo
My wife, Donna, and I planted our first church among the urban poor of Buffalo, N.Y. When I went there, Buffalo's population was declining by 3% per year. We bought a house for $70,000 in the middle of a crack epidemic. After spending an equivalent of $17,000 in renovations, we sold the house five years later for only$40,000 when we left Buffalo to plant another church. Our Buffalo experience showed us that it's not always easy to see people through God's eyes. The poor are poor for many reasons, not all of which are someone else's fault. Sometimes bad personal choices are involved. However, that fact doesn't give the Church license to tell people that if they really wanted to, they could get out of poverty. Instead, our job is to join Jesus on His mission to serve and care for the poor.
Talking the Walk
I must confess that I think churches talk more than they help. They brand themselves as caring for their communities through catchy slogans, yet they seem to talk more than they act. It kind of reminds me of that Brady Bunch episode in which Peter rescues a little girl from a falling shelf in Driscoll's Toy Store. The newspaper wrote about it and the TV station came out. And, you guessed it, the middle Brady son became obsessed with telling his heroic tale and couldn't stop talking about himself to his friends and family. It's no wonder no one wanted to be around the "hero." Self-congratulation is obnoxious and tiring. Likewise, I believe the world is growing tired of churches that occasionally helped the poor, took up an offering, or went on a mission trip and can't stop talking about those occasional experiences. People today find it odd that the Church founded by a Savior who came healing the sick and caring for the poor is now only marginally involved in His mission.
Jesus and Justice
In the initial thrust of His earthly ministry, Jesus announced, "The Spirit of the Lord is on me because He has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor" (Luke 4:18-19). That same Jesus, just a few chapters later, explained, "For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save the lost" (Luke 19:10). If we are going to follow Jesus in His mission, we must see the biblical Jesus in both Luke 4 and Luke 19:10. When Jesus broke into history, He said He would serve the hurting. But He also came to seek and save the lost. If we are not serving the hurting, we are missing out on the Jesus of the Bible. If we are not sharing the Gospel with our lips, we are missing out on the Jesus of the Bible. Imagine the difference we could make in our communities if we not only told people that they must repent and be saved, but also loved them--talking about Jesus and acting in justice. That would be joining Jesus on His mission.
Posted on November 3, 2008 at 3:56 PM ~ 15 Comments
Tagged with: gospel, jesus, justice, mercy, outreach, poor, poverty
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It is so awesome how God works these themes in my life. He has had James 1:27 before me this past week. I've been asking myself, "am I reaching out to the homeless and loveless"? Thanks for posting.
Francis chan? The guy graduated from the masters college and the masters seminary. He wreaks of john macarthurish Christianity. The fundies are rising.
LeAnn, thanks for your comment.
Jay, "wreaks"? Nice.
If Chan represents fundies rising, may God give us more who care as much for the hurting as Chan and Cornerstone Church.
good point. But would you say only fundies care about the church. Or do fundies want to control everything and everyone? From my own experience fundies seem to be very suspicious people.
People to the left of me (and that is a bunch) think I am a fundie.
I think that people to the right of me are all fundies.
So, it is hard to tell that line. Grin.
But, your question gave me two choices:
1. "would you say only fundies care about the church"
Or
2. "do fundies want to control everything and everyone?"
Those don't seem like a good "choose one" survey. Grin.
But, no, lots of non-fundamentalists love the church.
You also said, "From my own experience fundies seem to be very suspicious people."
And, I can't disagree with that.
Ed
This awesome ......I'm talking to ed stetzer(I don't mean that sarcastically). I want to take back what I said about chan. God is using him so I'll leave it at that. The same goes with j mac. My 'beef' is with the tone and the texture of fundies. Thanks
Hi Ed
I have to say that i'm thrilled that evangelicals of all shapes and sizes seem to be recapturing a concern for justice and poverty. As part of my theological studies in the late 1980's I did one unit on the "theology of the poor". At that time it seemed to me that the following was true:
Evangelicals had lost sight of the need to care for the poor and oppressed because they had become so focused on saving souls. The rise of the so-called social gospel and the challenge of liberal theology through the earlier part of the 20th century generated this narrowing of heart so-to-speak.
Over the last 10 years or so I've seen a much healthy engagement with these issues among a broader cross-section of evangelicalism and it's good to see.
Currently I serve as a pastor in the UK, and we are working as a church to include a clear commitment to issues of justice in our mission statement in order to hold ourselves accountable for our involvement in addressing poverty and justice at home and across the world.
Which is a long way around of saying I agree with the argument of your article!
PS Poland looked like a great trip, I really enjoyed reading about it all via both your blog and Jeff Noble's. Every blessing in your current role.
Bro...I'm totally on board with this. My biggest challenge in this area is my utter frustration with the idea we ALL agree on a definition of justice. For some, if you're not on board with every Bono cause, you simply don't believe in justice. Drives me nuts. I'm going to write on this soon...I promise. And you're going to publish it (he says as he waves his hand in the motion of a jedi mind trick).
Jay,
We definately need you to get out more so you are less excited to talk with me. Grin.
But, I am glad you came by!
Rick,
Your Jedi mind tricks will not work here.
But, if your book is good, that is another story!
Ed
Ed,
Per Rick's question... how do we define justice? There are so many definitions floating around out there (Especially now that this is a 'sexy' word in the faith community. How do we differentiate mercy and justice (Micah 6:8).
I am totally on board with what you are saying, that the church needs to balance out evangelism and justice. I am just afraid that too often our 'justice' lends itself to band aids. My hope is that church can re-engage their communities with the prophetic voice against systemic issues of injustice.
Gotta tell you Ed I am learning a greatdeal in this area. God through the Holy Spirit has been challenging me to be more like Christ in this way. Sometimes it is hard to decide in what area you will focus your attention. This has been part of my excuse for too long.
My wife has been coming to some of the same conclusions as I have. We are going in a few weeks to an orientation in order to become foster parents. I don't think I will "best" foster parent, but I will be better than "no" parent.
Please pray for us as we approach this new area in our lives, and as Mark Batterson has said "Chase the Wild Goose!"
Chad
Ed, great post. I write about this topic often on this blog.
http://churchformenflorida.blogspot.com
Ed, tell me what you think of this post from the blog I write at.
http://churchformenflorida.blogspot.com/2008/10/attention-church-there-are-dead-and.html
wow I'm so glad to read this post and to see the conversation going on. it is a huge part of who we are at healing place church. sometimes we get bashed some for being too justice minded - too engaged with helping the poor - and frankly it irritates me. I think serving those less fortunate than ourselves is fundamental to Jesus-style ministry. I don't think it is an issue of either preach or serve. u gotta do both. relentlessly. Thanks for the post.
Ed,
I agree with the conclusion of balance found in the life of Christ and in scripture. Thank you for making it clear.
When it comes to justice issues it is difficult to listen to theory or what should be but "by their behavior" reveals the truth.
Also, where ever an individual falls theologically shouldn't be the gage for a discussion like this but by ones behavior which better reflects whether or not Justice is a true value.
I see for instance when Jesus talked about the gospel it was in the context of the poor and hurting. So questions for me would be am I doing it when opportunity faces me? Am I intentionaly engaging culture with those around me?
This discussion points back (in my opinion)to a church being shaped by it's Christology or the lack there of.
Keep it up my friend. Appreciate your ministry to us out here. Bruce