Compassion 5

I am wondering about the issue of putting a priority on evangelization over compassion. One friend told me recently: "What they need is Jesus." The insinuation being that that too much emphasis on compassion misses the real need. I am fairly sure this is a pervasive attitude in the evangelical church. We have a higher priority - giving the gospel. However, there seems to be a problem with the way the discussion is framed and, ultimately, practiced. It is often framed in an either/or fashion. This is a form of dualism, separating the spiritual from the physical. Wasn't this notion determined to be a heresy by the church?

Without a doubt, Jesus was focused on preaching the good new of the availability of the kingdom. He says so. However, as he did this, he was compassionate and did something about the suffering he saw. His primary focus of preaching the good news of the kingdom did not diminish his response to the needs around him. He saw the needs, felt for them, and did something. He healed "all that were brought to him", he fed the large crowd. He seemed to be operating in a both/and mode. He did it because he was compassionate. He fed the 5000 because he saw they were hunger and he did not want to send them off that way. He did not do many of his acts of compassion for some other motive.

His mode of operation was so different from what I have observed. Many do compassionate things as a way to preach the gospel. Some require the homeless to sit through a service to get fed. Some do good things to "earn the right" to speak to them about God. Maybe we should preach the good news because it is and show compassion because we are compassionate.

We need to stop being practical dualists. It's just wrong. We need to call ourselves on this big time.

We can talk about preaching the good news part later. We need to.