Greg, Jonathan, and J.D.,

Thanks for this conversation. If you don't mind me chipping in my $.02...

Now, I want to affirm all of the things that need to be affirmed: faith comes through hearing, the gospel is a proclamation of propositional truth, etc... but it seems to me that the epistles speak frequently about questions of social action. The picture of salvation that we see in the OT, the gospels, and the epistles is a total transformation of the world, a rolling back of the curse and all of its effects. That work was definitively done at the cross and will be consummated when the New Jerusalem descends (notice that we don't get sucked up to heaven to live as spirits) and "all things are made new". Right now creation groans, then it will be set free. Right now there are tears, then there will be none.

There is an already/not yet at play here. On one hand, the gospel comes to people in power and has huge social implications... off the top of my head the epistles deal with "social" issues like meat sacrificed to idols, family dynamics, the treatment of women, homosexuality, slave/master relationships, the relief of poverty... you get my drift. On the other hand, those things will never be completely redeemed or "fixed" until the Lord returns.

It seems to me that the preaching of the gospel can't be truly separated from its social implications. To do so is to preach a partial gospel that is merely "spiritual" or "supernatural". I think the Lord's redemption aims at more than that. Harvie Conn, in his masterful "Evangelism: Doing Justice and Preaching Grace", describes his work among women sold into sex slavery in Korea. The women struggled with shame and guilt, and Conn writes "I discovered that a person is not only a sinner. He or she is also sinned against... a gospel that does not (also) address people as sinned-against poses a lot of problems for the publican, the sinned-against" (page 46). I admit that statement makes me a little nervous, because victimization is such a theme in our culture. But I think it rings true with Jesus' treatment of the afflicted and vulnerable.

So, what is the responsibility of the church? In J.D.'s words, to be a sign. In Jonathan's words, to be a display. Harvie Conn called it "Lordship evangelism". In short, we need to be what Christ called us to be: salty, light-giving, neighbor-loving, disciple makers.