As we make Christ known this year, we need to remember that love for our neighbour means loving the whole person as Jesus did– physically, emotionally, and spiritually. We communicate a heartless faith if we share the gospel and don’t care for someone’s physical needs; and we stop short of meeting someone’s greatest need if we don’t ever share the gospel.
Christians have always struggled to get the balance right in this area.
In the history of missions in China there were some (like Hudson Taylor) who believed in the imminent return of Christ and emphasised personal salvation– ‘the evangelisation of the world in one generation’. There were others, like Eric Liddell (Chariots of Fire) who came to China to teach science and math, and set up hospitals, clinics and universities. This latter group lived out the Gospel in both word and deed and transformed a nation in the process.
Both groups preached the gospel, but with different degrees of urgency.
I struggle in this area, particularly at the level of our church. Part of the reason is that we are so affluent– we are not 19th century China!. Although, perhaps this is changing. I was recently asked by a man for a week of bus fares so he could get to work. It was a good opportunity to ask about what he believed and pray with him. He said he was a Christian and trusted in Jesus. Barak Obama warned the other day too, that we are living in very turbulent times. And of course, we always have had a lot of people in our parish who live in government housing, who are lonely, shut in, and poor.
Pray that as we plan for this year, we might get the balance right– or better still, that we might ‘really love people’. And meanwhile, at the individual level, it is worth asking yourself– ‘am I loving my neighbour?’. ‘Am I just wanting to tell the gospel so I have done my duty?’, or in the opposite direction, ‘am I ashamed of the gospel, and withholding the greatest gift of all?’

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