EVANGELISM AND SOCIAL INVOLVEMENT: THE CASE FOR SOCIAL ACTION

[Editors Note: This is the second installment of a 5-part series from collective member Tim Chester on the relationship of Evangelism and Social Involvement.  This has been adapted from his book Good News to the Poor, IVP, 2004.  Availabe in the UK here and in the US here.]

The case for social action

1. The reign of God

The Bible is not the story of getting individuals to heaven. It is the story of God re-establishing his reign over the world. And when that reign is proclaimed people are called to repent (Mark 1:14-15). And just as God’s reign extends over every area of life so our repentance is to affect every of life. Social life as well as family life, in political and economic relationships as well as in personal morality – all should come under the authority of Christ. God’s purpose in salvation is that we might 'do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do' (Ephesians 2:10). So the characteristic of genuine faith is 'to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world' – this is true religion (James 1:27). And the nature of true worship is show concern for the poor and give our lives in God’s service (Isaiah 58; Amos 5:24; Romans 12:1).

2. The character of God
Social involvement in rooted in the character of God (see Psalm 146:7-9). God is the God of the poor. He upholds the cause of the oppressed. And God expects his people to share his concern for justice. The indictment of the prophets against the people was both that they had turned from God to idols and that they had not upheld social justice (Amos 5:11-12; James 5:1-5). God’s concern for the poor was embodied in the Mosaic law and modelled by Jesus.

3. The grace of God
We are to be gracious to those in need because God has been gracious to us in our need. The Israelites, for example, were to act towards the alien (immigrants), the vulnerable and the poor in the light of their own experience of deliverance from slavery (Deuteronomy 24:19-22). Or consider Luke 14.

Then Jesus said to his host, ‘When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your friends, your brothers or relatives, or your rich neighbours; if you do, they may invite you back and so you will be repaid. But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.' (Luke 14:12-14)

Jesus then goes on to tell the story of God’s Great Banquet in which 'the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame' (14:21) are invited. God has welcomed us to his banquet despite our poverty and powerlessness. In the same way we should welcome the poor and marginalised. 

But the key issue in this discussion is the relationship between Evangelism and Social Action.  This is what we will address in the next post.