How should Christians understand the work of justice in relationship to the mission of God in the world? It is shocking to see the abject poverty of peoples living in countries around the world that suffer from political corruption and economic collapse. It is equally disturbing to visit the southern hills of Kentucky and see similar sights.
The plight of the poor and the disenfranchised should concern the church of the Lord Jesus Christ, but does that care and subsequent action define the “mission” of Jesus in the world?
The world around us is groaning for restoration. The people in our neighborhoods and in the villages of Africa are suffering from the reality of the curse as disease and death continually pursue them. Our role is to be Ambassadors of the King and Kingdom. We are to herald the present and future reality of the kingdom of Christ.
When Christ performed miracles (healing of the cripple, sight to the blind, exorcism of the demon possessed), was he simply being faithful to the ministry of the kingdom or does it run deeper than that. Perhaps, he was beginning his assault on the kingdom of Satan by reversing the curse. When followers of Christ rally around the mission of God, should it not be in line with Christ’s campaign to destroy the powers of the evil one? Therefore, when we protect the environment or provide healing medical care to a remote village in South America, we are alerting the people of the most fundamental problem–the world is cursed and human beings are alienated from God. As we proclaim the fallenness of the world through re-identifying the distortion of our world, we are then given the platform to promulgate the good news of the Kingdom of Christ. We call all men to repentance and faith in the King.
If the mission of God is the grand scheme of his redemptive work for all the world (Col 1:20), the cultural mandate must be a substantial element of the mission.
Russell Moore articulates this very well, “‘Social Ministry‘ isn’t a side issue to the Great Commission….When we purify water or care for AIDS patients or combat poverty or alleviate hunger, we are announcing the kingdom by identifying the curse. This is not the way it’s supposed to be, we demonstrate. And we show, by loving whole persons holistically, the kind of redemption Jesus has accomplished at the cross and empty tomb–deliverance from every aspect of the reign of death in the eternal kingdom of Christ.”
He continues by saying that the mission of Christ (I am identifying this as God’s mission as well) must be understood both as a universal restorative action and also as a means for personal reconciliation with God.
Now, I realize that secular humanists can perform the cultural mandate and this is not the Gospel. I would argue that when secular humanists seek to reverse the curse (identify the problem and give aid under their own authority and purpose) they are actually performing “good deeds” that are anti-gospel because in their willingness to ignore the King, they actually, whether consciously or unconsciously, attempt to subvert his authority and rule. When followers of Christ give aid to those in need, we do so under the guidance and blessing of the king who is reconciling all things to himself. This is why social ministry, unconnected with the advancement of the kingdom is not ‘gospel ministry’.
To often, in my own mind I simplify the Gospel to a concise message of Christological biography instead of pointing to the same Gospel that Jesus preached to peasants in Capernum, which was that the “Kingdom of God is at hand”.
In the debate that follows, R. Albert Mohler, the president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and Jim Wallis, the founder and CEO of Sojourners, discuss the issue of the church’s mission and the call to social justice.
Click here to be redirected to the video.
Related articles
- John MacArthur: “Jesus does not presently exercise His full divine will over the earth.” (5ptsalt.com)
- The Gospel of the Kingdom (jansimson.wordpress.com)
- Watching the Economic Collapse from My Comfy Chair (lostballinhighweeds.com)
- Treating Jesus as a King Without a Kingdom (catholicdefense.blogspot.com)
- Christ Calls Us to Use More Than a Hammer and Nails (craigkuehn.wordpress.com)
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November 12th, 2011 at 12:40 pm
A social gospel without a spiritual gospel is a body without a soul. A spiritual gospel without a social gospel is a soul without a body. Both are heresy.