Instead, we adopt a posture of learning. “We’re here together to fix this other problem that is a part of our community,” said Kim.
“I think that kind of conversation leads to the opening of sharing the gospel in ways that are more effective,” he said, “because you actually see the point of entry…your own pain point is not necessarily the other person’s pain point or the community’s pain point. So find ways of expressing the gospel in terms of where people are actually at.”
“This really is the church headline that we wish to be in the news,” Kim said, observing that there are “thousands of stories” of churches serving God “that often rarely get covered because they’re in local communities, tucked away in a corner of our country, but become undeniably compelling when they’re brought together as this kind of national narrative.”
Moreover, said Kim, the good news that Jesus has saved us from our sins is not in conflict with the idea of meeting people’s earthly needs.
“Oftentimes, you know, service and proclamation, demonstration, these things are put at odds with one another,” he said. “Like, this is just social justice, or this is just a narrow expression of the gospel in terms of, you know, sharing one’s faith about eternal salvation. And I would just say: Jesus is interested in the whole thing.”
“He’s interested in the church as a community, deeply discipled in learning to love its neighbor,” said Kim. “Jesus is interested in a gospel that speaks to the eternal destiny of humans but [also] to the temporal needs of those very same humans.”
