Earlier this week my attention was captured by the events in Baltimore. As I’m sure you are aware, there has been a violent reaction to Freddie Gray’s death at the hands of the police, and the entire city has been in a state of emergency. It was inspiring to see a united clergy marching through the city streets to bring about peace. They courageously positioned themselves between the police and the rioters as a calming influence. I believe they did exactly what Jesus would have done in that situation, and I believe the Lord was truly in their midst.
The third main heading in the RCA’s “Transformed and Transforming” vision statement is “Engaging in Christ’s Kingdom Mission,” and the fourth bullet point says, “promoting justice, compassion, and reconciliation.” Part of the way we present the gospel of Jesus Christ to the world is by being instruments of peace, by standing in the gap, by righting wrongs and bringing unity where there is division. In 2nd Corinthians chapter 5 Paul talks about “the ministry of reconciliation” we have as “ambassadors for Christ.” This includes reconciling people to God and to each other.
So how come so many of us think the gospel is only for our souls?
In other words, for many people all we do is pray a prayer of repentance, look on sadly as the world gradually gets worse and worse, and wait patiently for Jesus to return and fix things. When we fall into this trap of minimizing the gospel’s influence, we fail to allow Christ to transform our world here and now. What were Jesus’ first words during his ministry?
“The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” (Luke 4:18-19)
Now be honest…did you read that and immediately think mainly in figurative terms? Did you take the words “freedom”, “recovery”, and “set free” in a spiritual or a physical sense? Here is the point we can’t miss… JESUS MEANT THEM IN BOTH WAYS! The creation and the spiritual realm are intertwined more than we know. Jesus is bringing JUSTICE here and now, not just at the final judgment. COMPASSION means loving people in both word and deed. RECONCILIATION does not have to wait until the end of time.
Let’s take this one step further. Someone reading this is saying, “Amen, I believe the gospel can not only transform individual lives, but the whole world.” But do we really believe that? David Bast, President of Words of Hope, made a comment last weekend that “the only hope for the Middle East is for the Muslims and the Jews to both be transformed through belief in Jesus Christ.” I have to confess that a part of me was skeptical that such a thing could ever happen. So I am just as guilty as anyone else of limiting the power of the gospel. We all can grow in our belief of the transformative power of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Try this exercise…Take a moment and think of the most impossibly broken situation you can imagine…inner-city Baltimore, the Middle East, a crumbling marriage, an abusive relationship, a severe addiction, or maybe even your own life. Which one captures your imagination? What would it look like for justice, compassion, and reconciliation to happen in that context? Now GO and stand in the middle of that place armed only with the gospel of Jesus Christ, trusting that the gospel has the power to transform lives…and let’s see what happens next…
Cory Grimm