Sunday, August 21, 2011

It's About the Gospel, PERIOD.

Yes, Jesus was a great man who walked the earth, healed the sick, loved the poor, and set the example of how each of us needs to live out lives.

The liberal, progressive idea of Christ as one who came for social justice pretty much says just that.

However, social justice “christians” either deny or forget the truth of Who, What and Why Jesus Christ really came for.

While the bible gives plenty of examples of how Jesus gave consideration for the poor, the blind, the lame, etc., it also gives the truth of Christ Jesus in His own words:

“[B]ut he said to them, ‘I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns as well; for I was sent for this purpose.’” - (Luke 4:43 ESV)

Jesus came not just to heal the sick and care for the poor but to preach and teach the good news (Gospel). He said this after healing the sick because He knew that people would use them for healing rather than longing for His real purpose – eternal salvation. We see that Jesus himself speaks of spreading the gospel as a MUST, emphasizing the necessity of God's providential plan being fulfilled. When Jesus is speaking of preaching the “kingdom of God,” a proper dynamic interpretation of “kingdom” actually refers to and means “reign.” Jesus was sent by God to tell the good news of salvation through repentance and faith with the understanding that all that Jesus said and did was about the reign of God in this universe.

And while the bible is full of examples of Jesus performing miracles of healing and caring, those miracles were not meant to be an example of social justice. They were so that when Jesus and His disciples spoke the good news, they would be taken seriously as representatives of the One True God.

Moreover, there are plenty of verses that show that the good news is reason people speak of Jesus – Acts 8:35; 10:36; 13:32; 14:15; Romans 10:15; 1 Thessalonians 3:6; Hebrews 4:2; 1 Peter 1:12; 1;25.

Roman occupied Israel had many social problems that needed to be addressed for sure. But Jesus made no mention or demand of the occupying government or the puppet government solving things through social justice. Jesus came to this world, and specifically to Israel, to show people God’s healing and care for the human soul.

One more point to ponder – Were Stephen, Peter, Bartholomew, James, Andrew, Thomas, Philip, Matthew, Thaddeus, and Simon martyred because they wanted social justice?

And even today, in countries where even the staunchest conservative would seriously question his or her stance of social justice and wealth redistribution, there are plenty of martyrs who willingly get tortured and murdered because of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, not because they are protesting inadequate healthcare, the wealthy, or even civil rights.



That video says two things to me – 1. In America, even though Christianity is hated and persecuted by millions, we don’t have to go through that. 2 – The violence in the video was not caused because those martyrs wanted social justice.

Forget about rich and poor. Forget about young and old. Forget about white and black. Forget about sick and well. Those things mean absolutely NOTHING when compared to the knowledge that an eternity awaits those who repent and trust in Jesus Christ as the ONLY way to God.