Here’s one that you hear a lot, even from longtime Christians.
“Jesus always met the physical need before attending to the spiritual need.”
It’s just not so. Read your Bibles. Jesus always took care of what was most important. That most often involved the truth or forgiveness or some manner of teaching and instruction. Where there was seemingly unprompted healing, Jesus noted that it was faith that was first present. He came to earth on a mission to take care of the most important thing—being the Lamb of God who took away the sin of the world.
Does that mean that we don’t take care of physical needs? Of course not. We are to help people who are hungry, need clothing, and even in prison; but this idea that has permeated the last several decades of church thinking has been destructive. Why?
Because too often we meet the physical need—food, help with a bill, gas money, etc.—and forget to share the gospel. We never get around to inviting people to come and know the Lord and enjoy the fellowship of believers. Sure, we throw in a “God loves you” with every basket of food and a couple of invitations to a church service, but we bury the lead.
We are people who belong to the Lord, share his good news, and are doing our best to have God’s heart and desire—that none perish. We are being made into love as he is Love. How can we relegate the good news that we carry to an afterthought?
Why does this matter? We must conform to the pattern of the world no more. The Lord, not the world, must define our ministries. The good news can never be reduced to an afterthought or be of secondary importance.
Let’s reach out with the gospel, connect the disconnected, and bring all of God’s children into the fellowship of believers where they know true abundance. This is love.
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