Fighting Injustice Versus Preaching The Gospel Pt. 3 - The Gospel

This is the third installment in my three-part mini-series on the social justice movement and the preaching of the gospel within the Church today.

In the first part , I noted primarily that there is a tendancy within some organisations to put things like the fight against human trafficking and medical missions on the front line, and to bump the preaching of the gospel back. I am not condemning these organisations for anything, but I do believe it's our responsibility to put the gospel first, regardless of our station in life.

In the second part , I posted some short responses to a few objections that I normally get when I speak on or write about this subject of social justice and the gospel.

Here, in the final installment, I want to address the gospel itself.

Not Understanding The Gospel

I believe that one of the main reasons that some are so quick to object to my assertion that the gospel must be our forefront and primary work is this: the gospel itself has no substance for so many Christians. In reality we don't understand it and therefore our confidence in it is robbed, and we are ashamed of it.

It is something that we (in general, not specifically) are actually ashamed of, and I believe this is evident in the timidity in which so many of us approach evangelism. The gospel glorifies Christ and what God has done and does: "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Rom. 3:23), but "while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us" (Rom. 5:8) so that we are "justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus", through faith (Rom. 5:1) which is "being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see" (Hebrews 11:1),and are and will be glorified (Rom. 8:29), also having an inheritance in Christ (Eph. 1:11) who is the heir of all things (Heb. 1:2).

Why do we feel the need to validate ourselves in any other way than that? I have discovered this in myself and in others; when asked the question "What do you do?", instead of coming right out and saying "I'm a Christian and I'm here in Australia to teach people the gospel" we will say something to the effect of "Oh... um... I work over at [missions organization] as a full-time volunteer." Which is true... but it's not why we are here. What we are doing in that situation is skirting around the truth (granted: some are actually here to volunteer more than they are to focus on preaching the gospel)... and it's because in our hearts, we don't actually believe that a) being a missionary is valid in the eyes of the world and b) we are afraid to come right out with the gospel for much the same reason... it will look weird to people.

Why are we so afraid of being weird, of being aliens, of not fititng in, of being persecuted, of being rejected? Was not Jesus, our Substitution, the same? Are we afraid that the gospel, presented in itself, is not enough to convict someone and provoke them to believe? I think it's partly both.

A New Love For The Gospel

First, it is natural for us to want to fit in, to have no opposition. The need arises, then, for us to re-examine our faith... is Christ indeed so real to us, do we value Him enough, to promote Him above all other things... including ourselves? We have given ourselves as bondservants to Him who set us free, and He has commanded us to preach the Gospel to all creation. Our generation needs to seek God with ceaseless prayer and fasting to gain His heart for the Great Commission... to realize the season the earth is in, right now, to realize that a time is coming very quickly when we will no longer be able to preach the gospel openly, to realize the life-consuming immediacy that is apparent when we look at our friends and acquantances dying around us, drowing in an ocean of self and deception. We don't have time or the convenience of having our own ego, of preserving our pride, of being fearful of reprocussions in the form of persecution. The fact that we aren't being persecuted is evidence that we aren't being effective, and demonstrates that we are more obediant to our flesh and intellect than to our Lord.

We Can't Convince Anyone To Believe

Secondly, the emphasis on free will that has crept into the Church has adulterated our evangelism. Instead of preaching the gospel boldly and unapologetically, we spend our time working to draw people in, to make them comfortable, to have them trust us before we present the gospel, as if is is by our methods they are convinced to step into faith... then we present them with some choice which enables them to pick Jesus as something supplemental to their lives: "Accept Jesus into your heart."

It is not our work to convince people to be saved. I have written a fair bit about this in the past, so let it suffice to say that none of the saving work is done by the human will, and the entirety of that saving work is done by and through Jesus and His sacrifice, for those chosen by God for their adoption based on no human conditions. If someone chooses God, it is only because God has chosen to reveal the nature of the gospel to their mind (which by default is darkened, Eph. 4:17-18) and not by any means in which we believers have acted.

That is not to say that we don't have responsibility for our actions... we certainly do. We are, to use the wording of John Piper, "adorn the gospel." We still need to live our lives in such a manner that God is always glorified in everything we do, and these things will also testify the gospel to those around us, and no one would argue that we are not to live the incredibly radical lifestyle that Jesus taught us. However, "adorn" is aptly used because it is not the gospel. Words absolutely need to be spoken... to use my example from part one, you're not going to bring someone to the throne of God on their knees just by ordering a soda instead of a beer... you must tell them about God and what He has done for them. It is as Paul says in Romans: "How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher?" (Rom. 10:14).

Our responsibility is to remedy ignorance of God and His gospel. Whether or not someone believes in Jesus is not up to us, but up to God.

What We Have Left

We now are left with this: we are commanded by Jesus Himself to preach the gospel to all creation. We need God to reveal the desperate nature of message that we carry as emissiaries of Christ, and to preach that plainly, boldly, and unapologeticaly. We are free from the burden of convincing people, though it will be sore to us when some reject it and we should not give up on anyone. We must trust that the Holy Spirit is doing His work, and live a life that adorns the gospel, beautifying and glorifying Christ Jesus through the living out of our lives. Jesus tells a parable in Mark 4 that I think demonstrates this principle:

And He was saying, "The kingdom of God is like a man who casts seed upon the soil;
and he goes to bed at night and gets up by day, and the seed sprouts and grows--how, he himself does not know. "The soil produces crops by itself; first the blade, then the head, then the mature grain in the head. "But when the crop permits, he immediately puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come."

The farmer sows his seed (preaches the gospel) and goes to bed and gets up. The seed (the knowledge in the unbeliever) has taken root and grows into maturity... by no doing of the farmer. When the time comes for harvest, though, the farmer reaps! In the same way, it is our responsibility to plant the seed, even water it, but we cannot make it grow. That responsibility is completely in God's hands... but we are there to watch that seed grow into faith, and to be there when that faith comes to fruition (this fruition, I should note, is the "decision" that we normally associate with conversion, and whatever comes after).

It is my hope that this encourages you... that you find comfort in the fact that your burden is not to convince someone of the gospel, but to teach it to them. However, I hope, too, that you are burdened by the gospel... that the manifest glory of God within captivates your heart to such an extent that you cannot help but to preach it to those with whom you interact.

What About Social Justice?

After covering some objections to promoting the gospel over social justice in the last article and examining our attitude towards the gospel and it's propagation in the former part of this one, I want to speak shortly about how the gospel does relate to social justice.

The gospel is the root of social justice. If there is anything in this world that demonstrates justice, it is the substitutionary, mutilitory sacrifice of Jesus Christ upon Calvary. Regardless of physical, emotional, psychological or spiritual status, the truth of the gospel will resound in the heart of any man, woman and child. It is good and proper for us to attempt to alleviate the suffering of anyone, in whatever form that is: feeding the hungry, healing the broken, freeing the slaves, redeeming those in prostitution, giving sight to the blind, loving the orphan and the widow, et cetera. None of these actions, however, stand to eclipse even in the slightest what Jesus Christ did on the cross, rather they build on the absolute validity of it. To raise them above the level of the gospel is to indignify the gospel, though, and to magnify the works of man.

Either way, whether the gospel is preached, or if the gospel is not preached, people have their needs met. However, if we do not preach the gospel, we are, in essence, simply putting a band-aid on a bullet wound. In the end, that does not address the real issue, and that is giving people life. One can be freed from forced prostitution but still a slave to their sin nature. It is better for one to remain in slavery and come to know Christ than it is for one to never hear of Christ and be freed from slavery. Of course... it is best if one knows Christ and is freed from slavery... but I believe it is our best practice to address the former sooner than the latter, if at all possible.

Conclusion

It is my desire to see a resurgence of evangelism in the Church today: evangelism that is rooted in and focused on the gospel; and that things like medical missions and social justice issues would be at most secondary to the cause of Christ, that is, the preaching of the gospel. I hope these three articles have clearly outlined my position, and that no shadow was cast on ministries engaging in medical missions or fighting social injustice, for that was not my intention.

I do hope and pray that your heart has been stirred towards the gospel and towards missions, to proclaim the excellencies of Christ to those around you, and to see social justice effected through the powerful message of the gospel.

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3