Dear Brothers and Sisters, I am Won KIM, voicing Pastor Caleb Soo Lee Chong. Shalom. Today, we’ll carry on with the topic “Evangelism and Social Care”.

Last week, we covered several key elements in the Great Commission promulgated by the Lord Jesus to His disciples: worship, power, action, universality, church, guidance and the eternal presence of the Lord. Does the church you attend, lead, or belong to have these elements for our gospel ministry to be carried out in a robust and gracious manner?

Is there any biblical basis to say that mission work includes evangelism and social acts?

Today, we will move on to explore if there is any biblical basis to say that mission work includes evangelism and social acts or service. John Stott (1921 –2011) the English Anglican cleric and theologian saw missionary work as the aggregation of evangelism and social action or social service. Let us see what scripture has to say in this regard -- in the books of Deuteronomy chapter 10 verses 12-20 and Micah chapter 6 verse 8.

First, Deuteronomy chapter 10 verses 12-20

12 And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God ask of you but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to him, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, 13 and to observe the Lord’s commands and decrees that I am giving you today for your own good? 14 To the Lord your God belong the heavens, even the highest heavens, the earth and everything in it. 15 Yet the Lord set his affection on your ancestors and loved them, and he chose you, their descendants, above all the nations—as it is today. 16 Circumcise your hearts, therefore, and do not be stiff-necked any longer. 17 For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality and accepts no bribes. 18 He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the foreigner residing among you, giving them food and clothing. 19 And you are to love those who are foreigners, for you yourselves were foreigners in Egypt. 20 Fear the Lord your God and serve him. Hold fast to him and take your oaths in his name.

And now, Micah chapter 6 verse 8

8 He has shown you, O mortal, what is good.

And what does the Lord require of you?

To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.

（1）What kind of God is Jehovah? What matters most to Him?

We can see from these verses what kind of God Jehovah is and what matters to Him most. It is stated here that “the Lord their God is God of gods and Lord of lords – the Jehovah who chose their ancestors and His people and ask of them but to fear the Lord their God, to walk in obedience to Him, to love Him, to serve the Lord their God with all their heart and with all their soul,” …emulate Him to “defend the cause of the fatherless and the widows, and love the foreigner residing among them, giving them food and clothing.” Very often, we see God speaking through the prophets to excoriate the ruthless leaders or acts of trampling on the poor and demand these rulers to show justice to His people. God also tells his people to speak up for and protect the helpless ones to express their love for these underlings.

Both scriptural texts show what God requires and what matters to Him most, vis a vis., His people need to take up the dual responsibilities of, firstly, “to fear the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to Him” -- Jehovah is God of all; we have to worship Him. Secondly, the people are to show charity, uphold justice and pursue compassion. In other words, God will not let anyone set faith apart from daily lives, body from soul and worship God while doing evil -- these would be abhorrent to Him. God wants us to worship Him and do good at the same time. May God leave us with no doubt on what His desires are.

（2）What Jesus did besides evangelism as our Role Model.

Secondly, what lesson can we learn from Jesus? In other words, we want to know what Jesus did besides evangelism as our Role Model. Let’s visit the book of Acts chapter 10 verse 38 to explore further.

Acts 10:38

38 how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and how he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with him.

Dear brothers and sisters, Jesus, as the only begotten and beloved Son of God, had been sent by Him to proclaim the good news of God as a Preacher, and to announce the coming of the Kingdom of God (as we see in the book of Mark chapter 1 verses 14-15). At the same time, He would be showing that this Kingdom is right here through His works that are filled with compassion and power of the Holy Spirit.

Charles Colson once wrote that God was not just concerned about saving Man from the world below (Hell), but also to free him from his Hell-like situation in the world. Praise be to Him!  Jesus Christ was doing exactly that as described in this excerpt from the Book of Acts: He freed those who were taken hold of by the evil one from their Hell-like situation in the world. Thus, we must do everything that is good and pleasing to God: go beyond spreading His Word, and minister to the social needs as well.

In the eyes of Jesus, word and action cannot be set apart from each other. Jesus’ words shed light on his acts, even as his acts unveil his words. John Stott said it well, “Words without acts is short on credibility; Acts without words is short on clarity. Jesus’ acts render his words vibrant and leaves no doubt. His words make His acts clear and distinct.” Dear brothers and sisters, let us use our actions to bring forth our faith, obedience and worship of our Lord. We are people who truly belong to the Lord; as such, we should live out lives that belong to the Lord as we care for and love the people whom the Lord loves and cares for.

Spreading the Gospel and Social Action

There are two well-known parables, the Prodigal Son (in the book of Luke chapter 15 verses 11-32) and the Good Samaritan (in Luke chapter 10 verses 25-37) in the New Testament. Let us try to unpack the relationship between spreading the gospel and social action from these two parables.

First of all, who was it that brought misery on the prodigal son and the victim of the robbers’ attack in these two parables?

Wasn’t the prodigal son the victim of his own sins? It is his personal sinful act, his very own desire, in wanting to leave his father’s house for a life of indulgence. As a result, he landed in great misery. Contrast this with the man who was beaten up by robbers: he was harmed by the sins of other people. It wasn’t the result of his own wrong doing, but that of the robbers, a consequence from criminal acts carried out by a gang of robbers under social disorder.

Dear brothers and sisters, the traditional church tends to pay more attention to personal sins – such as the presence of undesirable filth within the heart, harbouring thoughts that are offensive to God. Personal involvements in committing thefts or robberies, speaking ill or even passing defamatory remarks on other people … all of which are sins of a personal nature. It is such personal sins that commonly receive attention from the traditional church. However, rarely would we pass judgments on sins of a group or social nature, such as acts of corruption, exploitation of the poor, greed perpetuated by capitalism and so on within society. It is, therefore, apt for us to ponder over this question.

Secondly, salvation was the common denominator in both parables. However, under what conditions did the respective instances of salvation come about?

In the case of the prodigal son, that episode took place far away from where his father was. By then, he had gotten into a helpless, if not desperate mess. He didn’t even have any opportunity to fill his stomach with the pods the pigs were eating. The thought of his father crossed his mind when he saw his sinful self; he came to his senses and resolved to repent, return to his father and beg for forgiveness.  He thought, “I will get up and go to my father, and say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in your sight” and went back to his father’s outstretched arms. That was a beautiful picture of “salvation by faith” It is also about a man turning to the Heavenly Father in true repentance after waking up to his own sins – a justification and salvation by faith.

In the other parable, the victim of the robbers was left half-dead following the attack as he was no longer able to do anything to save himself. His salvation was on account of the good Samaritan who gave him a helping hand out of a heart of compassion. In other words, he “was saved due to the kindness of someone else.” These blessings, which did not belong to him in the first place, were bestowed upon him by someone else.

Thirdly, what love is being highlighted in both cases?

We saw the father of the prodigal son welcoming his son home without any condition whatsoever. He gave his son the best robe, a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet — and even killed a fattened calf to celebrate. He did this because of the love within him: he saw the man standing in front of him not as the prodigal son, but as his very own child.

The good Samaritan in the second parable was travelling along the way when he sighted the badly battered victim and, moved with compassion, bound up his wounds, brought him to an inn on his own animal and took care of him. That was over and above his responsibility – and for a Jew at that! Such neighbourly love would touch anyone to his very core!

Taking such action, paying the price – even risking one’s life can only come from a heart brimming over with love. It was very risky for the Samaritan to stop and take care of a badly mauled traveler. However, he was willing to risk his life and limb to do just that because he had love – neighbourly love. Both expressions of love carry a message of how God holds us in His sight, with a love that is all-accepting and unconditional. God was not under any obligation to extend His hospitality in such a manner; nonetheless, He went over and above responsibility to treat us with such profound mercy that we cannot but praise our Benefactor in unspeakable gratitude!

The missionary works that we do today have to cover spreading the gospel as well as social service. From these parables, we see how one is to repent and turn to God to seek salvation. At the same time, there is a need for us to take the lead to help the down-trodden, share the good news with them and tell them about and accept Christ, and enjoy His great Love. This is social action. It is thus obligatory for the church today to take up both of these missions that none can do without. May God give us wisdom to live up to His great teachings!

Let’s pray

Dear Heavenly Father,

We are truly thankful for Your Word. Your Word has helped us to know you as a compassionate God who takes care of widows and orphans and upholds righteousness. As we go through the scriptures, we can see your love as all-embracing, surpasses all responsibilities --even sending your Son, Jesus Christ to die on the cross. O Lord, may you deposit this love into our lives, come into our church groups and allow us to offer ourselves willingly for the sake of the gospel, to pay the price, even our lives. We are doing so in response to your call to take this path of ministry and evangelism. We pray that you hear our prayers in the name of the Lord Jesus, Amen!

Recommendations by Rev. Dr Caleb SOO Lee Chong

The three books “The Gospel for the Modern Man”, “Faith of the Modern Believer” and “Values for the Modern Disciple” by Rev. Dr Caleb SOO Lee Chong are worthy books to edify disciples. In order to minimize differences in the qualities amongst Christians, our churches need to set up basic courses to address these issues. In turn, this will enable all disciples to incorporate their faith into their lives and allow changes to take place through renewal of minds. May God make use of these basic courses to edify more disciples to strengthen His soldiers and claim victory on His battle-ground!

The three books “The Gospel for the Modern Man”, “Faith of the Modern Believer” and “Values for the Modern Disciple” are suitable course materials for anyone who wish to acquire understanding of the Christian faith in a more comprehensive manner. The contents are easy to grasp and relate to the real world that we are living in. They are written with an eye for the man-in-the-street and explore how to make our faith come alive in our daily social interactions.

In particular, these are suitable if you  

1. are someone who wants to understand the Christian faith or,

2. are someone who has just accepted the Christian faith or,

3. have been a Christian for many years but still hungering for a firmer grounding in the faith or,

4. are a pastor or co-worker who plans to use these materials for teaching purposes.

If you need to take up learning or use these materials in a systematic manner, please us contact at this email address.：[email protected]