Plumbline #3: “The church is God’s demonstration community.”
As I noted in #2, preaching the gospel is our ultimate goal. The gospel is the announcement that Jesus is Lord and he has satisfied God’s righteous wrath against our sin.
But whenever the gospel was preached in the New Testament, it was always accompanied by signs. Sometimes the “signs” were miraculous: opening blind eyes, raising the dead, etc. Other times they were amazing for the heart of love they displayed. Tabitha’s making of coats for the poor was so touching to her community that when she died they gathered at her bedside and wept.
Paul’s generosity to the Philippian jailer was so consistent and overwhelming that it caused him, in a moment of crisis, to fall at Paul’s feet and say, “What must I do to be saved?”
As we preach the announcement of Jesus’ finished work on the cross, we have to tangibly display the love of the gospel through the work of our hands. These “signs” are not the gospel, but they point to it. In the church, Paul says, the beauty and love of God are displayed for the world to behold and wonder (Eph. 3:10; Matt. 5:16).
By the way, these kinds of demonstrations persuade not only the poor, but watching skeptics as well, much like they did in my opening story about our encounter with the elementary school. As Francis Schaeffer famously said, “The final apologetic that Jesus gives is the love in the church.”
Thus, we encourage our people to invite an unbelieving friend with them as they participate, for instance, in a Habitat for Humanity project.
