At the beginning of the 20th century, one false either/or that bedeviled the church was the choice between ministering to the bodies or ministering to the souls of people. In 1917 Walter Rauschenbusch proposed a social gospel that addressed economic injustice, poverty, and institutional sin and oppression. Some evangelists like Dwight Moody opposed this emphasis and said the work of the church was the saving of souls. And, of course, we have the long tradition of Billy Graham, the best known evangelist of the last century, never addressing social issues, but simply and powerfully presenting the message of salvation. Although there is a genuine shift among evangelicals toward ministering to both body and soul, we still have denominations that are known mainly for evangelism and others for their work among the poor.
Jesus did both. Even his miracles are directed toward both goals. Some of his signs and wonders were meant to testify to the validity of his teaching (see John 10) but others are simple expressions of his compassion (see Mark 1:41). When Jesus fed the multitude, he didn’t say, “This should be an effective strategy of evangelism.” He said, “I feel compassion for the people because they have remained with Me now and have nothing to eat.” But in all his compassion he did not avoid speaking the hard truths about being his disciple (Luke 14:26) and He did not indulge in a naïve idealism about the poor. Jesus knew some were just following him for the bread. Jesus healed ten lepers but saw only one return to “give glory to God”. He didn’t carefully calculate the return on his investment; he loved and gave with wild extravagance.
The failure to minister to both the physical and spiritual needs of people is a failure to love. Love does both. James warns us against passing a brother in need and saying, “Go in peace, be warmed and be filled” and then doing nothing to meet his need. As James argues, it is not faith or works: it is works because of our faith. But it is also a failure to love if we don’t proclaim the gospel that leads to forgiveness of sins, a new creation, and the hope of eternal life. When we fail to proclaim salvation, we often ignore the very cause of their physical needs. Sin, hatred, bitterness, guilt and all the sins of the flesh ruin our bodies as well as our souls.
The power of God heals bodies and the mercy of God in Christ saves souls. The example of Christ and genuine love should move us to do both through his grace. We do not want the Church to be merely another social agency: a nice bunch of do-gooders. Nor do we want the Church to tally up souls saved while ignoring the physical suffering of the people. We want to love the bodies and souls of those for whom Christ died. We want both/and. The church is called to be Jesus to a lost world.
