Friday, January 11, 2008
Luke 4:18-19 "The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, To set at liberty those who are oppressed; to proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD."
PROCLAIM LIBERTY
Let's suppose for a moment that you were in a position to solve any human problem and your neighbors brought to you someone who had cancer and who had no knowledge of Jesus Christ.
What would you say would be more important, to cure the cancer (solve the immediate problem) or to speak of Christ to secure their eternal salvation?
In many cases, Jesus did both, but He also made it clear He had come to solve spiritual problems (cf. Luke 4:18-19).
The same Jesus has gathered us together into Christian congregations.
What is our purpose as a congregation? Is it merely to solve the problems and right the wrongs of this world? There are some today that believe the Christian Church on earth has been established merely to improve social conditions, to run soup kitchens and help the wayward.
There are some that believe we should throw our weight around in an effort to secure legislation that will make this world a better place.
If our ultimate goal is merely to provide earthly needs and make people comfortable here, then what about eternity? Wouldn't that be like giving someone a band-aid for a gaping wound? It might serve as a short-term fix, but the real problem won't be solved until the person is brought to a doctor who can sew up the wound and prescribe proper medication.
Don't misunderstand. We ought to make a real effort as Christians to help those who are in need. However, the greatest help we can offer is to bring them to Christ. Truly, the highest goal of the Christian church on earth and of each Christian congregation should be to gather human beings into Christ's Kingdom by proclaiming the Gospel.
God help us to that end! Amen.
