Hebrews 2:3— …how will we escape if we neglect so great a salvation?
1 Timothy 2:3-6—This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the Truth. For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all men.
On a recent trip to Pakistan, I was keenly aware of the thousands of people thronging the streets of the city. As I looked into their faces, sobering and provocative questions flooded my mind:
- Do we really believe in the Gospel of Salvation?
- Do Christians truly care about the salvation of other people?
- Based on our actions, what is our most important mission as Christians and the Church as a whole today?
- Is eternity real?
Perhaps you are wondering how I could be asking such seemingly basic questions. Was I questioning God’s will for humanity or His mission for the Church?
Absolutely not.
I was reflecting on how our greatest convictions and beliefs dictate our primary behavior and responses. Our convictions determine our highest priorities. And, our highest priorities will be evident by what we do and how we invest our lives. Or, as the old adage says: actions speak louder than words.
Heaven or Hell—We Decide
With these thoughts racing through my mind, I voiced a sobering reality to one of the young interns traveling with me. “Joshua,” I said, “every one of these people we see here today will end up in one of two places—Heaven or Hell. There are no other alternatives.”
The more than 6 billion people alive today will be sorted, grouped, tagged (however you want to put it) into one of two categories—SAVED or NOT SAVED.
Poor people, sick people, rich people, old people, young people, hungry people, crippled people, happy people, sad people, homeless people, people with Aids, people with malaria, people who were victims of abuse, people without hope—as different as they are, every one of them shares a common need—salvation.
Developing an Eternal Perspective
As I minister in many extremely poor countries, the voices of the people are so desperately crying out for relief from their immediate distress. And rightly so! God never intended for His beloved and most prized creation (human beings) to live this way. My heart goes out to them, and my first response is to meet their immediate need. If they are hungry, feed them. If they are thirsty, give them clean drinking water. If they are abused, rescue them. If they are sick, provide a remedy. If they are homeless, build them a home. If they lack a good education, provide them with one.
However, in reality, these are temporary solutions to temporary problems. According to the Book of James, this life (good or bad) is like a vapor—a puff of smoke compared to eternity. As Christians, while we must consider meeting temporary needs, more importantly we must also consider the primary and eternal need for salvation.
The most important question is: “Where will these people spend eternity?”
Recently, an anthropology expert shared with me the fact that most Christians are not as interested in starting Bible schools, training pastors, planting churches or holding evangelistic campaigns as they are in meeting the immediate needs of people. It seems Christians will overwhelmingly respond to and support humanitarian programs that address the immediate physical needs of people (especially involving children) and especially in dramatic situations. In fact, it is very popular among generous Christians to fund orphanages, contribute to feeding programs, provide medical aid, dig water wells, give to disaster relief and education. Thank God for that!
Julie and I also highly value and are very involved in providing humanitarian aid in all of these ways. We were involved in the tsunami disaster relief in Thailand. We helped fund earthquake relief in Pakistan. We are building a home to educate children in Thailand and an orphanage in Myanmar. We are also involved in a large scale orphanage in Thailand which rescues children at risk of extreme abuse.
However, we also have a very strong conviction that regardless of a person’s physical circumstances or condition, the Gospel of salvation is their greatest need. Our goal is to minister to the whole person—spirit, soul and body—but our primary goal is to secure a person’s eternal salvation through their acceptance of Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior.
Mobilizing and Maintaining
As we read the Gospels in the Bible, we see that Jesus was very compelled to meet the physical needs of the people. However, His greatest aim was to save their souls.
In Matthew 25:35-40 Jesus says in a parable, “I was hungry, and you fed me. I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger, and you invited me into your home. I was naked, and you gave me clothing. I was sick, and you cared for me. I was in prison, and you visited me. I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these, my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!”
Jesus also says in Matthew 18:11, “For the Son of man came to save [from the penalty of eternal death] that which was lost.”
Our goal for every orphan we help is that they become powerful witnesses for Jesus. Our goal for every person we feed is to make sure they hear and receive the message of God’s love and salvation. Our goal for every person we help is that they ultimately discover and become assured of eternal salvation through Jesus Christ. And, our mission doesn’t end there.
Julie and I believe establishing a permanent Christian presence wherever we go is of utmost importance. We are dedicated to helping establish and mobilize more churches, pastors and Christians in these nations. In this way, our humanitarian efforts become stronger, and more effective and far-reaching.
Consider these events:
- In December 2004, nearly 200,000 people were swept into eternity when a tsunami relentlessly struck several countries in Asia and Africa. (We were there when it happened.)
- In August 2005, 1,836 people died when a category five hurricane slammed into the coast of Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi and Florida.
- In October 2005, nearly 100,000 people perished in northern Pakistan and India when an earthquake demolished small mountain villages. (I was there when it happened.)
- In May 2008, nearly 200,000 people died in Burma when a cyclone smashed into the Irrawaddy Delta in the southern region of that nation.
- In January 2010, hundreds of thousands of Haitian people lost their lives when, without warning, an earthquake tumbled buildings, burying them alive.
- In the last five years, thousands of U.S. and coalition troops have died and many thousands more Iraqis and Afghans have died during the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.
- Today, hundreds of Africans will die from hunger, disease and war.
- And so on…
Now consider this truth:
The moment a person breathes his or her last breath and their heart beats for the last time, it matters not whether they were sick, poor, uneducated, homeless, without food, without water or without medical care.
All that really matters at that moment is where they will spend eternity.
If we feed someone, but don’t share the Gospel of salvation with them, they die with a full stomach, but spend eternity in hell—what eternal good have we done? If we provide a good home and education for a child, but don’t share the Gospel of salvation with them, they die having lived a good life with a good education, but are lost to eternal destruction—we have defeated our purpose!
Why would we help someone with an immediate physical need while neglecting their most urgent spiritual need of salvation?
God is great in mercy! This is why He sent Jesus to provide eternal salvation for all of mankind through His sacrifice. This is why Jesus willingly gave His life for us. This is why Jesus bore our sins through the sacrifice of Himself. This is why the Innocent willingly died for the guilty! This is why the One who had no debt was willing to pay a debt for one who could never pay his debt. This is why God raised Jesus from the dead!
This is why Julie and I believe in and preach the Gospel of salvation. This is why we are dedicated to empowering emerging Christian leaders to succeed in their mission to reach their people for God! This is why we focus our efforts and money in church planting, Bible schools, training leaders and evangelistic campaigns.
If we really believe in the Gospel of Salvation, then it will be evident because we will:
- Feed the hungry while preaching the Gospel of salvation to them.
- Clothe the poor while preaching the Gospel of salvation to them.
- Provide medical care while preaching the Gospel of salvation to them.
- Build orphanages while preaching the Gospel of salvation to them.
- Dig water wells while preaching the Gospel of salvation to them.
- Care for widows while preaching the Gospel of salvation to them.
- Rescue the abused while preaching the Gospel of salvation to them.
- Provide disaster relief while preaching the Gospel of salvation to them.
- Plant churches!
- Start Bible schools!
- Train Christian leaders!
- Evangelize!
- Support those who preach the Gospel of salvation!
Let’s remember the Gospel is not only the Gospel of blessing, healing, prosperity and protection… it is also the Gospel of Eternal Salvation!
What we do and how we invest our lives reveals to God and to the world that we believe in the Gospel of Salvation.
Eternity is real!