KEEPING BODY AND SOUL TOGETHER

“And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.”  (Micah 6:8 NIV)

What exactly does the Lord require of us? He requires what Jesus Christ modeled during His public ministry – the Good News in word and in deed. At dinner with His disciples, as He walked through the marketplace, as children crowded around Him, Jesus continually pointed the way to the Father. At the same time, He fed the poor; He healed the blind, the sick and the lame; and He affirmed the dignity of women, Samaritans, and other social outcasts of the day.

Before Christ ascended to heaven, He left clear commands to His followers in Matthew 28:19: “As you go, preach, making disciples and baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.” God’s Old Testament commands are equally compelling: “Impress [the words of God] on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up” (Deuteronomy 6:7). If we believe in… the Scriptures, we must take those commands to heart. For the believer, living the law of God, spreading His Word, and leader men and women to Christ should be as natural as breathing.

So, too, should be the acts of doing the gospel. In his epistle, James told the people of God that “pure religion and undefiled is this: ‘to feed the orphans and comfort the widow in her distress’” (James 1:27). The Apostle Paul helped to raise funds for famine relief and commended the Macedonian Christians for their rich generosity in giving to their brothers and sisters in physical need. 

“What does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” 

-- Charles Colson (1931-2012) in an article entitled “Doing Justice, Loving Mercy, Walking Humble” in Discipleship Journal, No. 63

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BY WORD AND DEED

“Whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.”  (Colossians 3:17 ESV)

Two primary means of spreading the gospel are word and deed. The gospel must be made both visible and verbal. To employ one means without the other is to truncate the gospel. In biblical literature word and deed are held together in an unbroken rhythm. In creation God spoke and creation happened. In the evangelization of Jesus there is no polarization between proclamation and action…. In Jesus word and deed do not fall apart. Jesus has integrity. His words ring true to His lifestyle and His life supports His words. Each illumines the other. Thus, by word and deed Jesus brings the claim and the power of the righteous reign of God (the kingdom of God) to bear on the whole of humankind.

We discover this same wholeness of word and deed in the evangelization of the early church. In the Acts of the Apostles, proclamation and good works are inextricably tied. There is a fusion of preaching and serving….

The biblical rhythm demands that verbalization of the gospel must take place in the midst of doing it. The ministry of kerygma (proclamation) must run concurrently with ministries of healing, serving, nurturing, liberating, reforming, and empowering. Announcement of the kingdom must be both verbal and visible, and one never asks which is more important. That would be like asking which is more important, breathing in or breathing out. It depends upon which one was done last! Obviously, proclamation and lifestyle must buttress one another. 

-- H. Eddie Fox and George E. Morris in “Faith-Sharing: Dynamic Christian Witnessing by Invitation”

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