The Need for Reconciliation with God through Jesus Christ [1]
We see all sorts of needs around us. But the priority of the eternal future means that the GREATEST NEED for all of us is to be reconciled to God and so escape his wrath. This is the greatest need of the poor and of our neighbors.
The bible is clear: we are all alienated from God – young and old, white and black, male and female, rich and poor. Paul talks about us as God’s enemies. It is not just that we have become God’s enemies, God has become our enemy. Our sin has broken the relationship with God for which we were made. God would not be God if he ignored this rebellion. He would not be just if he ignored the pain and suffering it causes. He would not be worth worshipping if he was indifferent to evil and inhumanity. And so OUR BIGGEST PROBLEM we all face is the problem of God’s judgment. Our GREATEST NEED is to be reconciled with God.
But God in his love and grace has sent his own Son to die in our place, to take our punishment, to pay our debt. So we can be reconciled to God and we can escape his wrath through Jesus Christ.
Moving Beyond Felt Needs
This is familiar to most of us, but we need to be clear about its implications. It means that it is NEVER enough to address people’s felt needs (think Seed Projects). Seed Projects can be a good starting point because the gospel addresses the human condition in all its complexity – the whole gospel to the whole person. But, we need to move beyond people’s felt needs.
People (i.e. insert the name of your next door neighbor, co-worker, grocery store clerk) think they have all sorts of needs and often they are real and pressing needs. But there is a much greater need of which people are unaware. It is our job to warn them of the coming judgment of God. We cannot wait for people to express their need for reconciliation with God.
Time and time again this has proved to be the greatest challenge facing Christian social involvement (i.e. Seed) – to keep in view the greatest gift we have to offer a needy world: The words of eternal life.
We were made in the image of God, created to be in a perfect relationship with our Creator.
But the world is not as God made it. People are no longer in relationship with God. The doctrine of creation means that cultural and social involvement are valid, but the doctrine of sin and the offer of salvation mean that to engage in social action without evangelism is to fail the people we profess to love.
Do you often think about the eternal fate of your neighbors?
How have you failed to love your neighbors through the ministry of the Word?
Join us on Monday nights and get exposed to Word and deed ministry. We share gospel truths every Monday night with neighbors who need Jesus and also need material goods. Contact Jesse Moss at jmoss@sojournchurch.com to join us.
[1] Adapted from Good News to the Poor: Sharing the Gospel through Social Involvement, Tim Chester, 50-58.
