The gospel of Luke tells us Jesus started His ministry by entering the synagogue and reading from the scroll of the book of Isaiah. He read these words:
"The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor."
- Luke 4:18
Recently in one of my seminary classes, the question was proposed: is the gospel good news to the poor?
When you read through the rest of Luke's gospel, you see it was good news indeed. Jesus showed great care for the poor. His disciples were primarily poor, as were the masses who followed Him. He spent a lot of time interacting with the poor. His harshest words were for the wealthy and the elite. He spoke against their oppression and neglect of the needs of the poor.
The gospel was good news to the poor because it wasn't merely for the rich or the privileged or the "righteous". It was for everyone. It was even for those the religious of the day tried to keep out. It was for those who had been born Jewish, and for all who had not. It was an inclusive gospel. Which is incredibly good news.
Is the gospel still good news to the poor today?
If we asked the poor in our country, would they say the gospel was good news? Does it proclaim freedom to the prisoners, sight to the blind, set the oppressed free, and proclaim the year of the Lord's favor? (As the verse in Isaiah says in continuation.)
What good is the gospel, if it doesn't do good in their lives?
According to Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs Pyramid, a person's most basic needs must be met first before they can focus on higher level needs. In other words, a person can't focus on their emotional or relational or spiritual needs if they are starving, facing eviction, or living in unsafe conditions. They are focused on mere day to day survival.
Often Church programs and outreaches start with the spiritual needs first. Come hear this speaker, see this play or presentation, get the ABCs of the gospel message, and then we'll give you a food box or a backpack with school supplies. Do what we want you to do first before we'll do what God tells us to do. (Was that too on the nose?)
But how are they supposed to believe the message when we are holding the help hostage?
How are they supposed to believe God is good and God loves them when our actions are less than good and less than loving?
How are they supposed to believe God cares about them when we look the other way, or, worse, condemn them for the conditions they live in and the choices they have had to make?
We have all heard the adage, actions speak louder than words.
We speak the words, "thoughts and prayers", but do very little to stop the systems and laws which make their lives unsafe.
We speak the words, "Jesus loves you", but avoid eye contact when the pastor's looking for volunteers for the next outreach or mission trip.
We speak the words, "God helps those who help themselves" (which is NOT in the Bible, btw), and use them as an excuse to hoard the blessings and privilege we have, unwilling to share with others.
We speak the words, "Come as you are," but stick our noses in the air and turn away when they come with tattoos or dyed hair or rainbow pins on their shirts.
We speak the words, "We are Christian" and "We follow Jesus", but go out and live however we want, doing whatever we want, and denying it matters.
Our actions speak so much louder than our words.
Brennan Manning, author of "The Ragamuffin Gospel", has been credited with this quote: "“The greatest single cause of atheism in the world today is Christians: who acknowledge Jesus with their lips, walk out the door, and deny Him by their lifestyle. That is what an unbelieving world simply finds unbelievable.”
The world is watching, and it doesn't like what it sees.
More than once I have seen comments on Facebook to the effect of, "Spending eternity with you people is not the draw you think it is."
Ouch!! What have we done to our witness?? Have we perhaps traded it in for a flag and a false American dream?
Peter wrote, "Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us" (1 Peter 2:12). Are we following these words? It doesn't seem so. There are not many in our country anymore who view Christians in a positive light. We can call this "persecution" or "culture wars", but really - we've brought it on ourselves by behaving badly. And behaving badly in super public ways.
Your actions speak louder than your words.
Think about that.
What are your choices and behaviors saying about you?
What are your choices and behaviors saying about Jesus, whom you claim to follow?
And are there areas where you might need to make some corrections?
I know I could use some improvement.
I saw this quote recently, "Be the reason someone loves Jesus. Not the reason they hate Christians."
That is my prayer.
May I not be the reason someone hates Christians!
May I be the reason someone loves Jesus.
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