Are we hiding the Gospel?

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Hospitality seems to be a huge way to show the love of Christ. It canbe easily exercised outside the workplace.

Yes, the LOVE of Christ, but not the gospel. There is no gospel apart from the word of God. I'm not trying to be contrary but this gets at the heart of lifestyle evangelism. Displaying the love of Christ, may earn you or I the right to share the gospel, but acts of charity are not the gospel. I'm sure you agree. I just want to be sure and make that distinction.

Is it not as important though?:confused:
 
While this may be the reformed tradition, it has not been the case in most of the reformed churches I have attended. Even when there is expository preaching, weeks might go by before there is a clear presentation of the gospel. The reason given for not preaching the gospel is that Sunday morning worship is for believers.

Ever since I have attended my church, my pastor has preached through the books of Philippians, 1 & 2 Thessalonians, 1 John, and Ephesians. Now, my pastor is preaching through 1 Corinthians. Moreover, my pastor has preached on various topics such heaven and hell, the sufficiency of Christ, Christ's atonement, baptism, the Lord's supper, the word of God, the five points of Calvinism without calling them that or using Calvinist terminology, and so on. Not every sermon was about how a person receives salvation from God, but this was and still is frequently heard.
 
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Hospitality seems to be a huge way to show the love of Christ. It canbe easily exercised outside the workplace.

Yes, the LOVE of Christ, but not the gospel. There is no gospel apart from the word of God. I'm not trying to be contrary but this gets at the heart of lifestyle evangelism. Displaying the love of Christ, may earn you or I the right to share the gospel, but acts of charity are not the gospel. I'm sure you agree. I just want to be sure and make that distinction.

I agree, yes, here's a few soft reactions:


Hospitality is a means of opening the avenue for reception of the Gospel. A means of modelling a Christian household too.

In the West, often times models of evangelism including approaching people out of the cold and asking them point blank, "If you died today where would you go?" That has even happened to me and I felt like telling them to buzz off! I asked them, "Why...are you planning on killing me today or something - you look fairly militant!" So, this sort of cold evangelism I am sure REALLY offends others.


But hospitality and helping others is the way to engage people in relationship. There are many important pre-evangelism steps we can take that may remove unneccessary obstacles. Many people who will never read the Bible read you and me everyday!

We are not out to win arguments but to win people. And much of what makes someone receive our message is when they receive us. We make the Gospel (hopefully) attractive and very little of what people take away is what we tell them with our lips.


Also, the whole evangelism versus the social Gospel thing is way overdone. These two things are very hard to separate in most of the world. He help because we love. It is not the Gospel but it goes hand and hand with the gospel.
 
Hospitality seems to be a huge way to show the love of Christ. It canbe easily exercised outside the workplace.

Yes, the LOVE of Christ, but not the gospel. There is no gospel apart from the word of God. I'm not trying to be contrary but this gets at the heart of lifestyle evangelism. Displaying the love of Christ, may earn you or I the right to share the gospel, but acts of charity are not the gospel. I'm sure you agree. I just want to be sure and make that distinction.

Quick thought: Being able to show the love of Christ is a result of the work of the gospel and of God's Word in our lives. If we show the love of Christ, is it not the Word being preached through our actions?
 
Hospitality seems to be a huge way to show the love of Christ. It canbe easily exercised outside the workplace.

Yes, the LOVE of Christ, but not the gospel. There is no gospel apart from the word of God. I'm not trying to be contrary but this gets at the heart of lifestyle evangelism. Displaying the love of Christ, may earn you or I the right to share the gospel, but acts of charity are not the gospel. I'm sure you agree. I just want to be sure and make that distinction.

Quick thought: Being able to show the love of Christ is a result of the work of the gospel and of God's Word in our lives. If we show the love of Christ, is it not the Word being preached through our actions?

Perhaps. But it is always much easier to give a drink of water in the name of Christ vs telling a person they need to be reconciled to the Almighty. The risk of just doing what the book of James says is we are more apt to think of vindication before men,which is what james teaches, vs justification by the imputed righteousness of Christ in the Pauline corpus. There needs to be a balance wich is a grace in itself.

Who can share this is irrelevant when you come down to it. Christ had no time for this. Read and meditate on His encounter with the woman at the well. We will neither worship on this mountain or that mountain or bless one well above the other in the kingdom of God. Nor worry about who can share the Gospel. We are called to be a light unto the world. This is for all believers.
 
Yes, the LOVE of Christ, but not the gospel. There is no gospel apart from the word of God. I'm not trying to be contrary but this gets at the heart of lifestyle evangelism. Displaying the love of Christ, may earn you or I the right to share the gospel, but acts of charity are not the gospel. I'm sure you agree. I just want to be sure and make that distinction.

Quick thought: Being able to show the love of Christ is a result of the work of the gospel and of God's Word in our lives. If we show the love of Christ, is it not the Word being preached through our actions?

Perhaps. But it is always much easier to give a drink of water in the name of Christ vs telling a person they need to be reconciled to the Almighty. The risk of just doing what the book of James says is we are more apt to think of vindication before men,which is what james teaches, vs justification by the imputed righteousness of Christ in the Pauline corpus. There needs to be a balance wich is a grace in itself.

Who can share this is irrelevant when you come down to it. Christ had no time for this. Read and meditate on His encounter with the woman at the well. We will neither worship on this mountain or that mountain or bless one well above the other in the kingdom of God. Nor worry about who can share the Gospel. We are called to be a light unto the world. This is for all believers.

It is hard to find the happy median.
 
Quick thought: Being able to show the love of Christ is a result of the work of the gospel and of God's Word in our lives. If we show the love of Christ, is it not the Word being preached through our actions?

Perhaps. But it is always much easier to give a drink of water in the name of Christ vs telling a person they need to be reconciled to the Almighty. The risk of just doing what the book of James says is we are more apt to think of vindication before men,which is what james teaches, vs justification by the imputed righteousness of Christ in the Pauline corpus. There needs to be a balance wich is a grace in itself.

Who can share this is irrelevant when you come down to it. Christ had no time for this. Read and meditate on His encounter with the woman at the well. We will neither worship on this mountain or that mountain or bless one well above the other in the kingdom of God. Nor worry about who can share the Gospel. We are called to be a light unto the world. This is for all believers.

It is hard to find the happy median.



That is why I said it is all of Grace. Those that God gift's with this balance are to be followed and listened to. I just do not ever want to neglect the spoken word becasue even an Atheist can do "good works" per se. I know many who work in soup kitchen's. But speaking of Christ is a whole different matter.

st francis once said, Preach the gospel, and use words if you must. It is a pithy saying that has a shred of truth, but human nature takes this to mean we can leave the cross out of our actions, and that my friend is impossible for the true believer.
 
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Larger Catechism Q 63

Question 63: What are the special privileges of the visible church?

Answer: The visible church has the privilege of being under God's special care and government; of being protected and preserved in all ages, not withstanding the opposition of all enemies; and of enjoying the communion of saints, the ordinary means of salvation, and offers of grace by Christ to all the members of it in the ministry of the gospel, testifying, that whosoever believes in him shall be saved, and excluding none that will come unto him.

Emphasis mine. We need to hear it and our children need to hear it. And that in the context of the whole counsel of God.
 
While this may be the reformed tradition, it has not been the case in most of the reformed churches I have attended. Even when there is expository preaching, weeks might go by before there is a clear presentation of the gospel. The reason given for not preaching the gospel is that Sunday morning worship is for believers.

Ever since I have attended my church, my pastor has preached through the books of Philippians, 1 & 2 Thessalonians, 1 John, and Ephesians. Now, my pastor is preaching through 1 Corinthians. Moreover, my pastor has preached on various topics such heaven and hell, the sufficiency of Christ, Christ's atonement, baptism, the Lord's supper, the word of God, the five points of Calvinism without calling them that or using Calvinist terminology, and so on. Not every sermon was about how a person receives salvation from God, but this was and still is frequently heard.

When I say "clear presentation of the gospel" I mean exactly what you are describing. So when I say that I have been in churches where it is not presented, I mean just that. The pastors have handled the Word in such a way that the gospel is not clear in any form. When I am saying this, I am not speaking of my own church. In my present church, the pastor manages to bring the gospel in some form into every sermon, and it is a delight to me.
 
Hospitality seems to be a huge way to show the love of Christ. It canbe easily exercised outside the workplace.

Yes, the LOVE of Christ, but not the gospel. There is no gospel apart from the word of God. I'm not trying to be contrary but this gets at the heart of lifestyle evangelism. Displaying the love of Christ, may earn you or I the right to share the gospel, but acts of charity are not the gospel. I'm sure you agree. I just want to be sure and make that distinction.

Quick thought: Being able to show the love of Christ is a result of the work of the gospel and of God's Word in our lives. If we show the love of Christ, is it not the Word being preached through our actions?

No. If you display the love of Christ, you are displaying the love of Christ. But an act of love or compassion does not include telling the person that they are sinners who are facing impending judgment and the only way to escape is through faith in Christ. The gospel cannot be divorced from the word of God. External acts of love, mercy or compassion are Christ-like, but they are not the gospel.
 
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