The Church, the Gospel and Social Reform

There was a string of shooting deaths on Grand Cayman, all of which are thought to be linked to gang activity. In all, the lives of 5 young men were snuffed out in a matter of eight days. We mourn with those who are mourning the deaths of these young men and we pray that the “Father of mercies and the God of all comfort” would comfort those in need with the hope of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. As we look to God, I do feel the necessity to thank him for his grace to us in these Islands. For while we can agree that these acts and others like them, which are part of a growing frequency of violence, are heinous, we cannot ignore the reaction of outrage by the citizens, expatriate and local alike. God has smiled upon us in such a way that acts such as these are rarities not norms. As a result of God’s grace we have not been desensitized to the value of a human life and that’s something that (a) we continuously thank God for and (b) we ask God to help us guard and seek never lose.

In times like these the questions are many and varied "Why? What is the government going to do? What is our Police Force doing? What can we do?” The questions are fair and arrive from a moral condition of the heart (Rom. 2:15), which, though corrupted by sin, seeks order and recognizes peace as a healthy pursuit. The community seeks to respond: Political figures address the people; Local radio talk shows are flooded with the calls ranging from individuals expressing outrage to those who would use their two and half minutes almost as political podium. Throughout all this one question carries with it an eternity of importance: "What is the Church going to do?"

Let me offer that a temptation lays await when our local churches seek to mount a response, a temptation that is often succumbed to. Our churches often abandon the best thing for a good thing. Often they have buckled under the weight of expectancy to render a practical impact on the community at large. Whether it is that the full council of the Gospel is not understood and thereby not rightly valued or there is a naiveté to the application of the Gospel in life’s situations, our churches well intentioned as they maybe, herald a message of Social Reform disconnected from the Gospel resulting in, if nothing else, short-term superficial social change. We have in these Islands replaced the best thing "The Gospel" and the proclamation of it, with a type of "Moralism" (the practice of morality), as distinct from religion. This at worse makes Christianity foundationally “behavior modification” in hopes of pleasing God.  Individuals, adults and young people alike, will be called (even from the pulpit no less)  to stop dressing a certain way, stop driving too fast, stop fighting, stop having sex outside marriage, stop killing each other. Like a child with measles, having Band-Aids placed upon their spots, both parties, the sick and the one administering the cure are left looking silly.

For the real issue lies inwardly (Jer.17:9, Mark 7:14-23), and in regards to crimes and injustices is frequently and sadly left unaddressed by those who are supposed to be the best equipped to diagnose and administer the cure. What is it that has caused us to abandon or worst yet jettison the Gospel? Allow me offer up some thoughts:

(a)     The believed importance of the Gospel of Jesus Christ as the central message and reality by which every Christian’s life is not only started but also the reality by which the Christian’s life is sustained (1 Cor. 15:1-2), has sadly been overlooked. This is subsequently what our churches are to be built upon but has been noticeably absent as a reality of ultimate and continual dependence. There is an obvious lacking in belief that the Gospel of Christ is the “power of God onto salvation” (Rom. 1:16 – 10:13-15). We treat the message of the Gospel like a set of keys which we only pick up to evangelize if at all, but seem to lose when other matters of the Christian life arises.

(b)   Our eyes have been veiled by hundreds of years of defining the faith by and through our culture rather than defining and engaging our culture by and through the faith. We have lost confidence and/or succumb to the fear of men to vocalize sin as the problem and the Gospel as the solution in a now culturally diverse and intellectually aware Cayman.  

(c)    We have replaced biblical and doctrinal truths with cliché’s, myths, and a man centered theology. Biblical faithfulness has been transformed into this grotesque creature, not resembling teaching and living the Christian life in a manner that is consistently informed by biblical attested gospel truth. Instead, the Scriptures are handled poorly, whether from the pulpit or in our bible studies and it has led to gaping holes in our understanding of the revealed nature of God, man’s condition and the redemptive storyline that flows from it.  When we lose sight of Christ and the cross, we are left with the enormous task of replacing them, and it’s only by God’s grace if you’ve found that the self and self-righteous works are no substitutes. 

(d)   Or it could be a more serious matter in that we do not know what the Gospel is. Is it a testimony? Is it Jesus loves us and wants to have a personal relationship with us? Is it a swift pronouncement that “Jesus is Lord!”? Is it Cultural Transformation? It’s none of these:

Testimonies

While a testimony is/should be a public proclamation of the provisions God has made in that individuals life through the realities of the Gospel and can certainly contain the Gospel, it is in and of itself not the Gospel.
           

       Jesus is Lord!

Firstly, this statement carries with it an eternity size weight and is magnificently true! This truth concerning Jesus’ lordship is essential to the gospel message. For the one who confesses that “Jesus is Lord” will be saved (Rom. 10:9) and only by the Spirit of God can someone affirm that truth (1 Cor. 12:3). But the declaration “Jesus is Lord” is surely not the full summation of Christian gospel. In Acts 2:36 , we do see Peter proclaiming “Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified." However, this verse is wedged between explanations of what Jesus’ lordship means. It means that this Lord has been crucified, buried, and resurrected, and it also means that his death and resurrection, above all, has accomplished the “forgiveness of sins” for those who would repent and believe in him. Peter did not just declare that Jesus is Lord. He proclaimed that this Lord has acted on behalf of his people to save them from God’s wrath against their sin.

To only say “Jesus is Lord” is not good news without the explanation that he is also savior. Lordship implies the right to judge and God plans to judge evil. Therefore to a sinner, this is terrible news. For the news to be good it would have to include that sinner being forgiven and reconciled to the Lord. To a sinner, the declaration that “Jesus is Lord” on its own, is a death sentence. (See What is the Gospel by Greg Gilbert)

Jesus loves us and wants to have a personal relationship with us!

This is certainly the phrase of choice for the “seeker-friendly” evangelist; however, on its own it can barely wet the throat of a sinner that thirsts for the living water (John 4:10-14) – Jesus Christ. The love of God in Christ Jesus for us and the relationship sought is evident. However, what caused there to be a separation in the first place that requires reconciliation in the relationship (Eph.2:1, Rom. 3:9-20)? What was done in order to reconcile us to this relationship seeking God (1 Cor.15:1-2, Eph. 4:14-21, Heb. 10:19-22)? When the entire acreage of the Gospel is surveyed, there are those who, in the attempt of not offending (1 Cor. 1:18) and suffering from the fear of man (people pleasers), instead of enjoying and proclaiming the entire manor of the Gospel estate which the Scripture attests to, would rather carve out and settle on a tiny plot of land, call it love and forgiveness not mentioning how love was shown or what we were forgiven of. This statement on its own can imply that God is in need of us when the truth is very much the opposite.

The knuckle imprint that’s to be left by the church on the heart of culture and the world at large is clear in Jesus’ words e.g. “let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven” (Mat. 5:16 see Lk. 10:25-37) and in the words spoken through Paul the apostle “So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith” (Gal. 6:10). We kid ourselves however if we think that Christ’s mission was limited to good deeds. For while clothing the naked, feeding the hungry and even making good citizens of the violent are good things, better godly things. Without the gospel sadly there will be a lot of well fed, well dressed, good citizens in hell.

The Church: Where the people of God meet, to hear the word of God and participate in the sacraments of Baptism and The Lords Supper; and whose mission should reflect Christ’s mission as given in his final marching orders of “The Great Commission” (Mat. 28:19-20). Christ left his heavenly throne, and did not seek to sit on an earthly throne in hopes of effecting societal change, but sought to sit on the throne of men’s hearts by giving his life as a ransom in the place of sinners (Mk. 10:45). So while we feed the hungry, and clothe the naked, and promote peace, we do this through the clear lenses and with the clear proclamation that is the gospel of Jesus Christ that saves. We support causes which promote peace, morality and the intrinsic value of life, but not in absence of, and certainly not in replacement of the gospel. For what message properly diagnoses the problem to which society sees these initiatives necessary, but that of the gospel of our blessed lord and savior Jesus Christ?

“Christ did not come into this world to make bad people good; he came to make dead people live.” Ravi Zacharias