From Talk To Action

One of the overarching themes of the last year or two of my life has been discovering the true meaning of the Gospel. I'm sure that I will continue to learn about it for the rest of my life, as I'll never fully understand how it works and why God designed life this way.

Lately I've come to a much deeper understanding of the Gospel; it's more than a one-time prayer that I know I should pray. The Gospel affects our lives in eternity, but is also life-changing while we are on this earth.

Under this overarching theme lies another issue that has consumed much of my thinking: good deeds.



Just by reading the accounts of Jesus interacting with people in the Gospels, one can see that He wasn't only about truth, and He wasn't only about good deeds. He had a unique balance. The Great Commission and The Great Commandment were both important to Him, and they should both be important to us.

Why do we shy away from helping others when we see they are in need? Why do we justify our lack of action? Why do we make the excuse that they may use this money I'm giving them for booze!

"When a Christian sees someone who is physically hungry, a Christian feeds the hungry person. Why? Because hungry people can’t understand the plan of salvation? No. Simply because that person is hungry. That’s what Christians do. And if a person is spiritually hungry, a Christian becomes “one beggar telling another beggar where he or she found bread.” Why? Because that’s what Christians do" (Steve Brown).

Books like Crazy Love and The Irresistible Revolution have also fed my interest in this area, along with many articles from Relevant Magazine and Worldwide Challenge.

Nancy Ortberg was recently quoted about this in an online Relevant article: "Many churches I come in contact with have all kinds of programs for banquets, and teas, and Bible studies, which in and of themselves are not bad, but there is not an equal amount of serving the poor, and getting our hands dirty, and coming alongside people in need. The Church has to go to them. Many people started clamoring around Jesus initially because He was healing people, and then when they got close enough, they began to hear His message. And His message was, “The Kingdom of God is available right now.”

Shane Claiborne is also quoted in the same article: "People are hungry, I think, for a Gospel that embodies a social, political alternative to the patterns of our world. To me, that is the very essence of what spread within the early Church— they were caring for the poor, preaching another Kingdom and another emperor than Caesar’s. And it was absolutely magnetic because the faith people had placed in Rome was at an all-time low, so when they were saying, “We’ve got another Kingdom,” people were like, “Yes, we’re ready, because the world as we’ve experienced it is not working.” The beautiful thing is, people are saying the same thing now."

How much more credible are our lives when people see our loving actions, then hear about the love that motivates us?

Now that I know this, what do I do about it?

What action steps can I take this week, this month, this year, to move toward a better balance?