I’ve wondered about this before, but saw a blog post today that caught my eye that tells the story of a South African university student and apartheid activist in 1979 who wants to become a Christian, but because of the examples he’s seen, worries that following Jesus will weaken his opposition to apartheid. Somehow he had it in his mind that you can’t have both. This dichotomy seems to dominate Christian consciousness to this day. The blog post then wonders:
"Why is there still so much of a split [between evangelism and social action] evident within the Western
church? Why are justice advocates so reticent to proclaim the gospel?
Why are evangelicals so reticent to demonstrate justice? How might this
change?"
What do you think? Why are these things kept in separate categories in most Western people’s minds?
I think it has to do with the way they view the world, fundamentally. Western Christians seem to view the world as consisting of two parts: the physical and the spiritual. While we have our bodies and daily needs, there is also some sort of soul-thing which also requires sustenance, albeit a different kind of sustenance, for one to stay healthy.
I would argue that this division of one’s self into two categories is a big problem, and the wrong way to conceive the world. There is no part of me which is only physical or any part which is only spiritual. And this is the challenge, because when we begin to understand the world this way, words like physical and spiritual lose meaning. And this is a great thing.
Concern for one’s “spiritual well being” is a new idea. And it’s a flawed one, built on the idea that humans can compartmentalize themselves. I believe this leads to people dividing their lives into different areas — work me, family me, church me, etc. — and then wondering why they seem to lose themselves in the process.
Anyone who believes that evangelism can exist without social action needs to seriously reexamine their understanding of the message of Christ. There is no evangelism if it doesn’t go to the poor. Feeding and preaching: neither are more important or essential to one’s being. They can’t be separated.
I’ll end my rant now. Good topic 🙂
Those are some good thoughts, Ryan. Integration of our understanding of what it means to be human seems to be key to what you’re talking about.
The question we have to ask ourselves, especially in the west, is whether G-D is our creator, Messiah is or L-rd and if our Belief and Faith is a way of life or just a religion.
We need to embrace our life within our community of believers and realize that we, in the western world don’t live in an “I” world but an “us” world. We might not agree, and might not be at the same point in our walk; but, we are all adopted into the same family and are grafted into the Vine of the Holy Father (as believers: John 3:16&17; Rev 3:20) 🙂
John 15