Some Christians preach a social gospel.
They are mainly concerned about helping the poor, the sick and the disadvantaged.
They support progressive political parties.
They want laws that give women equal rights and equal wages.
They want to help refugees and racial minorities.
On the other hand, they are often rather vague about the afterlife. They avoid talking about the eternal judgement of God.
Then there are some Pentecostals, conservative evangelicals and fundamentalists who focus almost exclusively on biblical teachings about eternal judgement, personal salvation leading to eternal life, biblical teachings on sexuality, marriage and bearing children.
Do I believe the Bible comes from God? Yes.
Do I believe Jesus is the Son of God who paid the penalty for my sins on the cross? Yes.
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. Jn 3:16 NIV
For God took the sinless Christ and poured into him our sins. Then, in exchange, he poured God’s goodness into us! 2 Cor 5:21 The Living Bible, Paraphrased
Do I believe in a social gospel? No. The Good News of Jesus is eternal life.
Where will you spend eternity? This is the most important question to answer.
Do I believe in a social gospel? No. But I also do not believe in an antisocial gospel.
Jesus taught that we need forgiveness of sins to go to heaven, but He was also intensely concerned about caring for suffering people in this life.
Jesus healed sick people because he felt such compassion, that it turned his stomach. He did not demand that they repented of sins to be healed, but of course he was grieved when they were healed but did not repent of sins.
Conservative Christians who only care about eternal salvation and strict moral codes are partly right but also seriously wrong.
Progressive Christians who care for people in need are partly right but often also partly wrong.
Jesus taught the essence of the Law of God in two commandments.
Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’
The second is this: ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.” Mk 12:30–31 NIV
If you love other people as Jesus does, you will want them to believe and go to heaven, but people will not believe you love them if you do not care about their earthly needs.
When people see conservative Christians only talking about moral codes and eternal judgement, they often conclude that Christians only talk about love but don’t really love.
Christian missionaries in India preached to a community about salvation for years, but without result. When the Christians organised a project the provide the community with clean water, many Hindus became Christians.
When Christians support huge tax concessions for very rich people but oppose government programs to provide affordable health care, many people conclude that conservative Christians should not be taken seriously.
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