Part One: In Search of the Humanitarian Jesus
Chapter 1: Is Doing Good, Good Enough?
Christians in the twenty-first century are confronted with the complexities of engaging the topic of social investment and the Christian life. On the one hand, we may be tempted to totally abandon social investment in furtherance of the message of salvation and resolutely focus on the pre-eminence of eternity, choosing to center on Christ’s death and resurrection and the need for spiritual rebirth. On the other hand, we may be tempted to dilute, if not abandon, the gospel for the achievement of temporal social goods, choosing to focus on Christ’s acts of love and call to care for the poor and needy.
Chapter 2: Socializing the Gospel
For the past 150 years or so, Christian scholars, pastors, authors, and laypeople have engaged and re-engaged the relationship between the biblical doctrines of gospel evangelism and social investment. The burning question is this: What are followers of Christ supposed to do in the realm of secular social issues such as poverty, hunger, homelessness, injustice, and oppression?
Chapter 3: Three Truths
Is it right to share the gospel before giving someone a meal or a vaccine? is it wrong to simply love an abused child in the name of God, but never explain what it really means that God loves her?
Chapter 4: Last-Breath Equality
We live in the temporal, but our choices frequently impact the eternal. There is a simple fact that brings this into focus – we are all dying, one breath at a time. We want to believe that we will live on through the years, but when faced with the truth, we know there is no guarantee that we will make it through another minute.
Chapter 5: Gospel-Rooted Humanitarianism
Christians must invest, but social investment, in whatever form that takes, can never be the single or primary focus of our lives. It must be rooted in our understanding of the gospel of salvation, the good news that this life is not all that exists, that the God who created us sent His Son to die for us so that we might be reconciled eternally with Him. Our work must always be rooted in the understanding that all of mankind is suffering under both the physical and spiritual consequences of brokenness.
Chapter 6: Go Forth and Conquer
Of this we can be certain: a person’s eternal destiny is not transformed by a good deed done on their behalf, but by their experiencing a life-altering personal meeting with the risen Christ. Our deeds have only the power to impact physical lives if they are not done in and through the power of Christ.
Part Two: The Interviews
1. Ron Sider, President, Evangelicals for Social Action
I’m not committed first of all to peace or justice or any other issue, I’m committed to Jesus. I’m committed to the Scriptures. And it seems to me that Jesus calls me to be a peacemaker and to care about the poor, but it’s very easy even for an evangelical social activist to get so focused on the social action that we neglect Jesus as the center or neglect evangelism.
2. David Batstone, President and Founder, Not for Sale
I define slavery very much in line with the Thirteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, the notion of involuntary servitude. It’s not low wages, it’s not poor environmental conditions; it’s forcing someone to do labor against their will for someone else’s profit.
3. Mark Batterson, Pastor, National Community Church in Washington, D.C.
When I felt called into ministry, into pastoring a church, my greatest fear was that I would get quarantined behind the four walls of a church building and lose touch with people who are far away from God. You see too many churches that have become inward-focused and exist for the people who are already there. I feel we needed to exist for the person who isn’t here yet.
4. Tony Campolo, President, Evangelical Association for the Promotion of Education
I think Rick Warren and Bill Hybels have become very, very sensitive to the needs of the poor. While Franklin Graham and I would not be on the same page on a lot of issues, I think more and more, we are moving to the same page. What he’s been doing for poor people around the world has been notable and it has to be chalked up to a social consciousness that might not have been quite as evident ten years ago.
5. Jerry Wiles, President, Living Water International
Our goal is to make sure that every person getting access to clean water through our projects is also getting an appropriate witness. We do that primarily through supporting local churches that will be following up with discipling and continuing ministry.
6. Jim Moriarty, CEO, Surfrider Foundation
Regarding the environment, the Christian circle essentially believes that God created the earth, ecosystems, and life itself. The environmentalist circle understands the fragility of our world, importance of intact ecosystems, and the preservation of systems that support life. From my perspective, the circles do overlap, and should overlap more often and with more intellectual and spiritual vigor.
7. Gilbert Lennox, Pastor and Cofounder, Glenabbey Church of Belfast
It?s important to be good citizens, but when it comes to the gospel, once you tie the gospel or even seem to tie the gospel to a particular political approach, I think you then ultimately weaken the gospel.
8. Franklin Graham, President and CEO, Samaritan’s Purse
Christians who do good deeds without the foundation of Scripture are operating in the name of humanitarianism. The Word of God is the backbone of Christian service. Jesus said that His followers are the salt of the earth and He is the Bread of Life. It is important for Christians to continually renew their commitment to the commands of Christ – to live obedient lives and use the abilities He gives us to serve others with compassionate spirits. Christ enables us to do this through the power of His Holy Spirit that works in us and through us.
9. Gary Haugen, President and CEO, International Justice Mission
It is a paradox that so much of my life now with International Justice Mission in recent years has been dwelling in these places of great suffering and violence, brutality, and evil in the world because I grew up in a place that couldn’t have been further from all of that…. My world was very, very limited, very, very sheltered from the massive reality of human suffering in the world.
10. Rusty Pritchard, Founder and President, Flourish
The commands of Scripture given before the fall to tend and keep, to cultivate, to preserve and protect God’s garden, and repeated after the fall in the covenant with Noah, show us that God has an ownership interest in the planet, and we have a stewardship responsibility.
11. Francis Chan, Teaching Pastor, Cornerstone Church, author of Crazy Love
God put me in Simi Valley, California, to lead a church of comfortable people into lives of risk and adventure. I believe He wants us to love others so much that we go to extremes to help them. I believe He wants us to be known for giving – of our time, our money, and our abilities – and to start a movement of “giving” churches. In so doing, we can alleviate the suffering in the world and change the reputation of His bride in America.
12. Brad Corrigan, Founder and President, Love Light & Melody
We are committed to becoming experts on the life and culture inside the city trash dump in Managua, Nicaragua. Our goal is to identify and meet the immediate physical needs, raise awareness about trash dump communities, and fight social injustice. We use music and the arts to rebuild, restore, and bring healing to communities ravaged by extreme poverty.
13. Isaac Shaw, Executive Director, Delhi Bible Institute
I can tell you that only in Christ Jesus can you take a disadvantage, turn it into an advantage, and use it for the glory of God. I have a heart for the poor because I was poor. I was rescued by a man who rescued me because his heart was transformed by the gospel.
14. Bryan Kemper, Founder and President, Stand True Ministries
I really wanted to bring the gospel of Christ back to the center of the pro-life movement. And I felt that we needed to really be a loving, compassionate, good, Christ-centered pro-life movement, and not just the angry anti-abortion movement of the ’80s and ’90s. In fact, then it was really a lot of in-your-face and protests and that kind of stuff, and that was kind of the culture back then. But now I believe we really need to bring this into a Christ-centered, loving, compassionate, pro-life movement.
15. Mike Yankoski, Community Member, The Ranch
Zealous Love…takes eight major areas of need in our world, eight major areas that impact billions of people, and asks, “What does it mean to love our neighbors as ourselves given these great needs?” The first one is human trafficking. The second is unclean water. Third, refugees, Fourth, hunger. Fifth, lack of education. Sixth, creation degradation. Seventh, HIV and AIDS. And eighth, economic inequality. We asked people who have been working in those areas to reflect on their work, so the book is very story based.