Day 28 - 40 Days of Focus: Evangelism
Social Gospel Balance
How do we find the right balance between the social issues and needs of our community and the proclamation of truth? Is it worth delivering stuff to people’s houses through Love INC even if we don’t share Jesus with them? Does having the name Jesus in the title make it evangelism? Do we run the risk of a bait and switch label if we do something good only when there is an opportunity to tell people what the bible says about Jesus? If we volunteer with Starbucks to paint a local elementary school and we show up as a church are we doing evangelism even if we never say the name of Jesus or hand anything out? Can we chalk some of that up to preparing the ground for future evangelism or does their always need to be a proclamation with the needs bases ministry?
It’s easy to ask the questions, but more difficult to answer them. The best answer is found in Jesus Christ. Why did He heal and serve? Was it sometimes just to bring relief? Was it for a future opportunity? Jesus always combined healing with proclaiming and so should we. Our love should be clear and the truth should be just as clear. There should be no strings attached but there should be a clear connection. We love others best when we love the way Christ loved us.
How do we find the right balance between the social issues and needs of our community and the proclamation of truth? Is it worth delivering stuff to people’s houses through Love INC even if we don’t share Jesus with them? Does having the name Jesus in the title make it evangelism? Do we run the risk of a bait and switch label if we do something good only when there is an opportunity to tell people what the bible says about Jesus? If we volunteer with Starbucks to paint a local elementary school and we show up as a church are we doing evangelism even if we never say the name of Jesus or hand anything out? Can we chalk some of that up to preparing the ground for future evangelism or does their always need to be a proclamation with the needs bases ministry?
It’s easy to ask the questions, but more difficult to answer them. The best answer is found in Jesus Christ. Why did He heal and serve? Was it sometimes just to bring relief? Was it for a future opportunity? Jesus always combined healing with proclaiming and so should we. Our love should be clear and the truth should be just as clear. There should be no strings attached but there should be a clear connection. We love others best when we love the way Christ loved us.
posted by pastordan at 4:46 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home