“If someone says, ‘I love God,’ but hates a fellow believer, that person is a liar; for if we don’t love people we can see, how can we love God, whom we cannot see? And He has given us this command: Those who love God must also love their fellow believers.” (1 John 4:20-21 NLT)
The social gospel is not an addendum to the gospel; it is the gospel. If we read the Gospels, it becomes clear that it was not what Jesus said about God that got Him into trouble (but) His treatment of men and women, His way of being friendly with outcasts with whom no respectable Jew would have anything to do. It has always been fairly safe to talk about God; it is when we start to talk about [humans] that the trouble starts. And yet the fact remains that there is no conceivable way of proving that we love God other than by loving [others]. And there is no conceivable way of proving that we love [others] than by doing something for those who most need help.
-- William Barclay in “Ethics in a Permissive Society” [1971]
#5417
No comments:
Post a Comment
Thank you for sharing your comments about a quote or about this ministry. Please include your name and what state or country you live in. If you do not have a registered profile, you can login using the "Anonymous" tag in the "Comment as:" box below.
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.