Eternal and Common Good

Ed Stetzer post:  Monday is for Missiology: The Mission of the Church, The Gospel Coalition, and Unity

Collin Hansen serves as the editorial director of The Gospel Coalition (TGC). He is always a good writer, but I found his post at the TGC site to be especially helpful and unifying. You can read it here.

I was particularly interested in his reference to the Theological Vision for Ministry. These vision statements are exceedingly helpful and worth your consideration. It is my understanding that they were drafted by Tim Keller and worked on by TGC council members, then formed into their consensus document. I'll be commenting more on this document later but thought Collin's post and the quote from the vision statement were helpful.

I am not a part of the Gospel Coalition but continue to find the writing and resources to be quite helpful. I'd encourage you to take a look if you are not aware of the ministry.

Read Collin's post. Below is my comment at his blog shared here (at my blog) because it addresses the important need for a recognition that gospel-loving and biblically-driven Christians can and do come to different conclusions, but are really not that far apart.

For example, I share the concern that Collin blogs about at TGC and DeYoung and Gilbert write about in their book What is the Mission of the Church? Simply put: doing deeds cannot replace or supplant proclaiming Christ. And there is plenty of reason to think this is occurring and needs to be addressed.

Here is what I wrote Collin:

Collin,

Good word. Thanks.

I had not read this statement from The Gospel Coalition:

Christian churches must work for justice and peace in their neighborhoods through service even as they call individuals to conversion and the new birth. We must work for the eternal and common good and show our neighbors we love them sacrificially whether they believe as we do or not. Indifference to the poor and disadvantaged means there has not been a true grasp of our salvation by sheer grace.

I thought the statement was helpful. (I need to read more of the excellent work of TGC!)

I think the example you gave is helpful-- it is a real issue. If engaging in justice supplants proclamation, we are missing it. I'm in complete agreement-- I've written on the issue myself (most recently in reference to Lausanne and social justice).

It seems that many churches ARE getting distracted from evangelism--some churches seem almost embarrassed by the idea. But, these churches want to engage in social action. It's more acceptable. The world will cheer when you engage in justice but often jeer when you preach Jesus.

The challenge is to decide the solution to that evident problem. I think most evangelical pastors are concerned that gospel proclamation be central-- whether it is "part / not part" of the mission or the "center" of the mission. They are looking for how to balance those out.

As you said, gospel preaching leaders and pastors are not that far apart. I'd hate for this become a point of division between believers, particularly those within the TGC world. I wrote on this on my own blog a while back. I appreciate friends who are on both sides of the issue-- and see them engaging in mission even if they prefer not to use the terms in the same way I do.

There is a place for both views and I hope we will treat one another that way--one is not orthodox and one heterodox. One is not biblical and the other unbiblical. They are differences of perspective and conclusion based on a sincere engagement with the biblical text. What there is NO place for is a view of justice demonstration that eliminates or distracts from gospel proclamation. On that we all should agree.

Thanks,

Ed

Those who value gospel proclamation are united in their concern for clear and prioritized gospel sharing. They might differ on the terms and where deeds fit in the mission of the church, but we can all agree that gospel proclamation can never be replaced-- and that the temptation to do so is very real.

My hope is that as people debate the mission they might not get distracted from it. On that we can be united. Thanks to Collin for the caution and the reminder.