What does Good News look like to them?
In the world of mission there is a continuing debate of whether we should demonstrate the gospel, preach the gospel, or do both (often referred to as “wholistic” mission)*. Advocates of the first argue that there is no point in preaching the gospel to people who are going to die of hunger, while advocates of the second say there is no point in giving people hope in this life if they have no hope for the next. Proponents of wholistic mission try to find a mid-point and do both.
The picture is muddied even by the example of Jesus. One the one hand it is clear that Jesus had compassion on people because they were needy (Matthew 9:36), yet the previous verse said he proclaimed the gospel and healed people. His famous mission statement in Luke 4 says that he came to preach good news… and then proceeds to focus on the poor, the imprisoned, the blind and the oppressed. In other words, the socially disadvantaged. Then later in the same gospel he says “The Son of Man came to seek and save the lost” (Luke 19:10) which sounds profoundly soteriological. In Acts 11 Peter calls Jesus a man who went around doing good and makes no mention of him preaching the kingdom.
One way to square this circle is to ask ourselves what Good News actually is. Evangelical Christians would customarily describe it as “Christ died for your sins”, but of course before Jesus died, Good News must have meant something else. In Luke 9, Jesus sent the Twelve out to proclaim the kingdom of God (Jesus’ usual message) and heal, but in verse 6 we’re told they ‘preached the Good News’ and healed. So the Good News is not merely the Kingdom even though it includes a call to repentance (Mark 6:12). For some people, Good News looked like healing. For others it was food, or deliverance from demons. Good News embraced their immediate needs as well as their eternal needs.
What does Good News look like for the people we meet? Seen from their perspective, it may not primarily be salvation. They might have more immediate concerns. These might be a bed for the homeless, a meal for the hungry, a community for the refugee, healing for the sick, comfort for the bereaved, friendship for the lonely. This is why so many Christian compassion ministries exist in the UK and abroad.
Christmas is a time of year when Christians invite their non-Christian friends and neighbours to church services, or send them overtly evangelistic Christmas cards. But if we’re not showing them what Good News looks like throughout the year, our preaching might seem to them a bit shallow.
