Monday
Oct062008
Before "everything must change"
Monday, October 6, 2008 at 2:56PM Colin Hansen on an issue that's constantly coming up here: the relationship of the gospel to social issues.
If Christians today want to turn the world upside down, then we must preach the apostolic gospel of King Jesus. Before "everything must change," Jesus is building a kingdom of subjects who repent of their sins and trust him to forgive them. Then we can follow Jesus' example and reject political power plays; otherwise, "we will, ironically, be assimilated into the very idolatries of wealth, status, and power we seek to change," as the Gospel Coalition's Theological Vision for Ministry explains. "If we seek service rather than power, we may have significant cultural impact."
Reader Comments (7)
soooo. before everything must change, everything must change? i think we should be careful of putting any adjective ahead of gospel. calling it apostolic is just as much a problem as calling it social.
By "apostolic" I think he is saying referring to the content of the gospel proclaimed by the apostles. I think this could be a useful adjective to use with gospel if that's what he means.
I have been doing some thinking about this subject of the gospel and social action - thanks Darryl for blogging about it. It seems to me that social action is a natural outflow of the gospel, but I am very hesitant to include it in the gospel. I'm big on 1 Cor 15:1ff for a working definition of the gospel message, which centers on the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ, and on the witnesses to these events. I get concerned when I see many evangelical groups big on social action but not too big on the gospel. I'm concerned they will end up like the YMCA (long time no "C"), unless they make preaching the gospel central. I fear that we will do social action at the expense of the gospel, because it's relatively easier, since people don't get mad when you say "Are you hungry, here's some food", but they often do get mad when you say "Repent of your sins". Social Action is a natural and necessary outflow of being saved, but to include it in the gospel seems to risk it overshadowing the imperative to personal salvation. We never plan it this way, but the drift just seems to happen. Our local ministerial (mostly evangelical) just took on the role of overseeing the local food bank. I voted in favour without hesitation, because I see it as an outflow of being saved (and of course because the Bible repeatedly commands us to help those in need). It is my joy and privilege for our church to share in helping others in the name of Christ. We also have an active assistance fund for the same reason, and often take up offerings to help in overseas relief efforts. But I don't see it as the gospel itself, and if I did I fear it would give me excuse to weaken my focus on the lost. There was a helpful article in CT back about a year ago that dealt some with this topic: http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2007/november/16.40.html" rel="nofollow">http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2007/november/16.40.html Anyway, these are just some of my thoughts, written a little late without polish but hopefully saying what I'm trying to say. Thanks again for your blog. God bless, Tim
Excellent comment Tim. Thanks for putting things in the proper perspective.
ahh. i see the difference now.. even still, my own take is that proclaiming the apostolic gospel (the gospel preached by the apostles) shouldn't be seen as larger or more important than the gospel of jesus (preached by jesus) or the prophetic gospel (preached by the OT prophets) i still believe it is to mistake one for the true in opposition to the rest. just too convenient to me. i just don't see one gospel being presented as the right take.. we need them all. and if you only preach an "apostolic" gospel you may be tricked into thinking that the social aspect is indeed a poorer gospel to the more greek presentation of the gospel by paul et al. does that make sense? i think i sort of rushed my explanation here, but i hope my thrust comes across clearly.
Tim: Thanks - good comment. David: I agree it's wrong to set up the apostle's understanding of the gospel as if it's opposed to that preached by the prophets or Jesus. Did you have a chance to read Keller's article, "The Gospel in All Its Forms"? http://www.christianitytoday.com/le/2008/002/9.74.html" rel="nofollow">http://www.christianitytoday.com/le/2008/002/9.74.html
i have not. thanks for the link!