Hope Has Many Names - Part 1 (Gospel for Asia)

Hope Has Many Names

The question is, what does the Bible say about social justice
and compassion? What is the Church’s role in these matters?
Clearly, by simply looking at Christ’s example of how He
lived on this earth, we are not to neglect the needs of suffering
humanity.

When Jesus came, He not only fed people’s souls with the
truths of heaven and Him as the Bread of Life, but He filled their
stomachs with fish and bread and wine as well.
He opened not only the eyes of people’s hearts to see the
truth, but also their physical eyes, restoring their sight so they
could see the world around them.

He strengthened the faith of the weak, while strengthening
the legs of the lame.

He who came to breathe eternal life into a valley of dry, dead
souls also breathed life into the widow’s son, raising him up
once more (see Luke 7:11–15).

It was not one or the other—it was both, and both for the
glory of God.

This example of ministry carries all throughout the Bible.
Look back through the Old Testament and you will see a strong
emphasis placed on compassion toward the needy and social
justice for the downtrodden and poor. God demanded the care
and protection of all those who were oppressed (see Leviticus
19:18; Isaiah 1:17, 58:10–11), and some of the most terrible
judgment fell upon the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah for the
way that they exploited the poor and needy.

In Matthew 22:38–40, Jesus clearly marked the Christian’s
social responsibility when He said that loving God is the first
and greatest commandment and “the second is like unto it,
Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments
hang all the law and the prophets” (emphasis mine).
All the Law and Prophets are summed up in both—loving
God and loving others. It was not one or the other—but again
both, for the glory of God.

We cannot say we love others if we ignore their spiritual
needs. Just the same, we cannot say we love others if we ignore
their physical needs. Jesus came for both.

Indeed, Jesus has shown how the physical suffering of
humanity brought many to call upon Him as the Savior of their
soul.

In John 20:30–31 we are told, “Many other signs truly did
Jesus in the presence of his disciples . . . that ye might believe
that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye
might have life through his name.” The Gospel shows that it
was the sick, the demon possessed, the hungry and the poor
who came to Jesus and whose lives were changed by His healing
touch. Jesus Himself declared that He had come to preach
the Good News to the poor, the prisoners, the blind and the
oppressed (see Luke 4:18).

Through the many who were healed from horrible diseases
and set free from satanic bondage, Jesus showed Himself as the
only One able to save their souls from sin and death. The mercy
ministries Jesus did were not an end in themselves, but were
rather a means. And it is the same today.

Yet as I mentioned in the previous chapter, we must not misunderstand
(or replace) evangelism for social action. The Great
Commission is not a mandate for political liberation.
Many who are familiar with the ministry of Gospel for Asia
know that first and foremost we are committed to planting
churches and making new disciples. Our concern has always
been evangelism and church planting, never to be replaced by
social work alone.

The salvation of souls and making of disciples have been
our aim and goal in all things, the ruler by which all ministry
opportunities are measured. But this in no way means that we
do not care about the physical suffering of those to whom we
seek to minister.

Our spirits, which are eternal and infinitely more precious
than the whole physical world, are contained in perishable,
physical bodies. And throughout the Scripture, we see that God
used the felt needs of the body to draw people to Himself. Truly,
the needs of suffering men, women and children in this world
are great—especially in the 10/40 Window.