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I'm reading the Gospel of Mark in Dr. William Barclay's "Daily Study Bible" series. Dr. Barclay wrote these some years ago, and they are studies of Books of the New Testament with commentary and discussion. I picked this one up at a free book exchange, and I really plan on trying to find the rest, they're amazing Biblical commentary in pretty simple terms. Of his series, Barclay wrote, "I decided I must dedicate my life to making scholarship available for the layman, so that he may know better his Bible, his God, and his Saviour." Dr Barclay was a Church of Scotland minister and Professor of Divinity and Biblical Criticism at the University of Glasgow.
Anyway, I'm reading Barclay's commentary and dissection of Mark 1:25-29. This passage reads:
And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed. And Simon and those who were with him searched for him, and they found him and said to him,"Everyone is looking for you." And he said to them, "Let us go on to the next towns, that I may preach there also, for that is why I came out." And he went throughout all Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and casting out demons. (ESV)
Dr Barclay basically discusses that Jesus never had words without action, and that Jesus gave so much (not even talking about the Cross yet! ) that he scarcely could even find the time to pray.
Barclay then beautifully writes, "Missions do not only take the Bible; they take education and medicine; they take the school and the hospital. It is quite wrong to talk about the 'social gospel' as if it were an extra, or an option, or even a separate part of the Christian message."
I, for one, agree. The "social gospel," or, helping people, is important. We are, and always will be, unworthy without Jesus' blood. But faith without works is dead and useless. (James 2:20)
Not only is the "social gospel" important and a Christian duty, it is also a tool for evangelism. Hardly anyone is ever converted by debate, but by love, selflessness, and self-sacrifice for the good of others. These things cannot be debated, or ignored. They cannot be graded, measured, or quantified. They cannot be disputed. They can only be seen and, more importantly, felt.
Jesus did not sit in a study by the fire, puffing away on a pipe and musing. He went out among the rich and the poor, the believers and the non-believers, and showed them what it is to love. He says to Christians, "They will know you follow me by your love." (John 13:34-35) Would Jesus know we were His followers if, hypothetically, he could only base that assessment on our actions?
Jesus is the Good News, and we are ordained by Him to share it. Do we, as the body of Christ, go out into the world of non-believers bearing love and Good News? Or do we go spreading something else?
Anyway, I'm reading Barclay's commentary and dissection of Mark 1:25-29. This passage reads:
And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed. And Simon and those who were with him searched for him, and they found him and said to him,"Everyone is looking for you." And he said to them, "Let us go on to the next towns, that I may preach there also, for that is why I came out." And he went throughout all Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and casting out demons. (ESV)
Dr Barclay basically discusses that Jesus never had words without action, and that Jesus gave so much (not even talking about the Cross yet! ) that he scarcely could even find the time to pray.
Barclay then beautifully writes, "Missions do not only take the Bible; they take education and medicine; they take the school and the hospital. It is quite wrong to talk about the 'social gospel' as if it were an extra, or an option, or even a separate part of the Christian message."
I, for one, agree. The "social gospel," or, helping people, is important. We are, and always will be, unworthy without Jesus' blood. But faith without works is dead and useless. (James 2:20)
Not only is the "social gospel" important and a Christian duty, it is also a tool for evangelism. Hardly anyone is ever converted by debate, but by love, selflessness, and self-sacrifice for the good of others. These things cannot be debated, or ignored. They cannot be graded, measured, or quantified. They cannot be disputed. They can only be seen and, more importantly, felt.
Jesus did not sit in a study by the fire, puffing away on a pipe and musing. He went out among the rich and the poor, the believers and the non-believers, and showed them what it is to love. He says to Christians, "They will know you follow me by your love." (John 13:34-35) Would Jesus know we were His followers if, hypothetically, he could only base that assessment on our actions?
Jesus is the Good News, and we are ordained by Him to share it. Do we, as the body of Christ, go out into the world of non-believers bearing love and Good News? Or do we go spreading something else?