Do Not Serve Needy without Gospel

In this postmodern world and subsequent postmodern church age, the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ has been greatly reduced to a missional or social gospel, casting the core and essential message of the true Gospel to the wayside. Instead of meeting the spiritual and eternal needs of men, today’s church is largely only meeting the temporal, physical needs of those they reach.

What is the true, unadulterated Gospel then? The answer is simple: Christ and Him crucified (1 Corinthians 2:2). It is the power of God unto salvation for everyone who believes (Romans 1:16). Yet, today’s church has turned the gospel into a social justice and welfare program. Mouths are fed, backs are clothed, perceived injustices are battled, and world peace is a primary agenda, yet none of these are the Gospel. To be clear, our Christian duty, once we are saved by grace through faith in Christ alone, is to meet the physical needs of those who are without, but to do so without also meeting their spiritual needs is pure vanity.

God has enlisted each of His disciples to be fishers of men (Mark 1:17) – to go out and make disciples of men in all the nations (Matthew 28:18-20). This is the Christian’s first and primary mandate. One of the most practical ways of fulfilling your responsibility to obey the Great Commission is by meeting the physical needs of others. Jesus was compassionate for the needy (Mark 8:2) and one of the marks of a genuine believer is their compassion for those in need, especially the brethren (1 John 3:17). Proverbs 14:31 also says whoever is kind to the needy honors God.

It is imperative, however, that one does not forsake the Gospel to meet the physical needs of others. What good is it to feed a man’s stomach, but not feed his soul? Such a man’s physical needs may be met temporarily, but that will not do him any good should he suffer for eternity in hell. While we are called to be compassionate towards the needy, our primary incentive and motivation for meeting their needs must be to point them to the Lord Jesus Christ through not only our actions, but through our words. After all, how will they believe in Him if they have not heard Him? (Romans 10:14).

Fortunately for Christians, the poor will always be among us (Matthew 26:11). This gives the Christian ample opportunity to show others the love of Christ through their labors, and also the blessed responsibility to share the Lord Jesus Christ with them, who is the only Hope sinners have for the redemption of their souls. Rich, poor, black, or white – everyone needs God. The unrepentant homeless soul will face the same judgment of a Holy God as the unrepentant wealthy soul because he will have died in his sin. Each of us must, therefore, repent and trust in Christ alone for our salvation, else we will surely perish (Luke 13:5).

Make sure the ministries you endorse, support, or serve are intimately attached to thebiblical Gospel. If they are only concerned with meeting the felt and physical needs of the less fortunate, then they are not godly ministries. Period. The biblical ministry will not only meet the temporal needs, but more importantly, it will meet the spiritual needs through the proclamation of the Gospel.

If you are looking for such a biblical ministry in which to serve or donate items in Charlotte, NC, please consider Jackson Park Ministries.

To ensure you understand the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, please take a moment to watch the following video clip: Do You Know the Gospel?