In\nAmerica, it often seems like Christians are divided on how to define the\ngospel. In evangelical circles, leaders tend to express the central gospel\nmessage (in content) but may neglect to apply this message to the social\nturmoil surrounding them (in context). On the other hand, those in mainline\nChristianity tend to see the church\u2019s mission as mobilizing social action to alleviate\ninjustice, representing the Kingdom of God, and loving our neighbors\u2014but may\nseemingly forsake the message of Christ\u2019s atoning work. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
However,\nin defining the Gospel, if we choose one emphasis over the other, we miss the\nfull gospel. Our behavior as Christians is an outward expression of what we\nbelieve, and what we believe should trace back to the words of King Jesus. Our\nlifestyle should line up under Jesus\u2019 lordship, both socially and spiritually.\nJesus tells His disciples to \u201cmake disciples of all nations\u201d and \u201c[teach] them\nto observe all that I have commanded you\u201d (Matthew 28:19-20). And so, in our\nKingdom ethnicity, the social and spiritual commands of Jesus should inform\neverything we do. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
In\nHis teachings, Jesus gives His followers commands that are to be obeyed in real\ntime through our lips and our lifestyle. Here are a few examples of the social\ncommands of Jesus: <\/p>\n\n\n\n
In addition to these\nsocial commands, Jesus calls us to obey His spiritual commands: <\/p>\n\n\n\n
As Jesus\u2019s people, we\ndon\u2019t separate the spiritual commands from their social impact. We represent\nJesus to the world. When we make these social and spiritual commands of\nJesus the framework of our lifestyles, we show the distinction between God\u2019s\npeople and the people of the world. In Luke 24:46-49, Jesus said that His\nsuffering, death, and resurrection occurred so that His followers could\nproclaim repentance and the forgiveness of sins to every ethnicity. His\nfollowers were to begin in Jerusalem, where they were geographically located,\nand they were to wait in that city until they were given power from on high.\nThe power from the Holy Spirit would give them the boldness to make Jesus known\nin Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and throughout the entire world (Acts 1:8). In\nfact, the church became mobile because of persecution (Acts 8). <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Throughout\nScripture, we see that God does not want His people to remain stuck in the\nfalse idea that this earth is their final home. God\u2019s people are sojourners <\/em>walking\nwith God (Psalm 39:12), citizens of heaven <\/em>(Philippians 3:20), sojourners\nand exiles <\/em>(1 Peter 2:11), and strangers and exiles on the earth <\/em>who\nare looking toward the heavenly City of God (Hebrews 11:13-16). These\ndescriptions apply equally to Christians today. We must not let other factors\ndistract us from our obedience to Christ. Our roles, our nationalities, our\noccupations, and our social status are not to be the crux of our\nidentification. Instead, we cling only to the cross of Christ and identify\nourselves with him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Every broken soul who comes to Jesus feels His healing embrace and is welcomed into His Kingdom. The Kingdom of Jesus knows no geographic or political boundary. No human nation holds a monopoly on Jesus\u2019 Kingdom. Every Christian, no matter where they live on the globe, is part of the one people of God. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n\n\n Every Kingdom citizen recognizes that our primary citizenship is in heaven. Christians , regardless of where they reside, must be like the fathers and mothers of our faith who lived in exile with hope, knowing there will come a day when we will enter God\u2019s City. The primary document that should shape the beliefs and lifestyle of every Christian is the Bible, God\u2019s Word. The ruler and commander in chief of our lives is King Jesus. As we seek to make disciples of Christ and proclaim His Gospel, at home and abroad, we should commit to obeying all of His commands \u2013 both the ones that are focused on our own spiritual restoration and growth, and those that compel us to share the love we have received with our fellow image bearers in our communities, and around the world. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" In America, it often seems like Christians are divided on how to define the gospel. In evangelical circles, leaders tend to express the central gospel message (in content) but may neglect to apply this message to the social turmoil surrounding them (in context). On the other hand, those in mainline Christianity tend to see the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":28,"featured_media":184,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_s2mail":"yes","footnotes":""},"categories":[7,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-183","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-faculty","category-horton"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.calbaptist.edu\/scm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/183","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.calbaptist.edu\/scm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.calbaptist.edu\/scm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.calbaptist.edu\/scm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/28"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.calbaptist.edu\/scm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=183"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.calbaptist.edu\/scm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/183\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":185,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.calbaptist.edu\/scm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/183\/revisions\/185"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.calbaptist.edu\/scm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/184"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.calbaptist.edu\/scm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=183"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.calbaptist.edu\/scm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=183"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.calbaptist.edu\/scm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=183"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}