As day five of Lausanne 4 draws to a close, my heart is drawn to the moving presentation the Korean church gave of God’s faithfulness and sovereign hand in unleashing a gospel movement in and through their people.
Read my previous reflections here, here, here, and here.
The Korean church shared the “twelve stones of remembrance” of what God has done. From the revival of 1907, to the missionary movement of becoming the second greatest sending nation in the world, they told the story of God’s gospel transformation. Through it all, I was struck by their reoccurring theme of gospel declaration united with gospel display. The Korean church has boldly proclaimed the message of the good news of Jesus, even in the face of strong persecution. And the Korean church has displayed the love of Christ in their social concern bringing medical care, educational advancements, advocacy for human rights, and societal transformation. The Korean church teaches us the power of the gospel when it is both declared and displayed.
Missiologists call this integral mission. It’s when good news and good deeds are united as one. It means sharing and showing the love of God. Integral mission is powerful. If the good news is not accompanied by good deeds, a watching world can easily dismiss our message as inauthentic. If good deeds are not accompanied by the good news, we give people hope for their earthly lives, while never conveying to them the hope of eternal life. Declaring and displaying are inseparably bound together.
Jesus calls us to “go and make disciples of all nations” (Matthew 28:19) as his witnesses (Acts 1:8), which requires verbal proclamation of the good news that Jesus has died in our place and for our sins, rising again to make us right with God forevermore. After all, “how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard?And how are they to hear without someone preaching?” (Romans 10:14). We must declare the good news.
Jesus also tells us to “let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 5:16). Love of God requires love of neighbor (Mark 12:30-31). Faith without works is dead (James 2:14). We are to adorn the gospel with the goodness of our lives (1 Peter 3:3-4). Good deeds create good will that opens hearts to the good news. We must display the good news.
But how do these two things relate? Are they two co-equal callings? Is one more important than the other? Does one flow into the other? Is this an infinite loop? Or is there an organic connection between them?
I’d like to suggest that there is an organic relationship between declaring and displaying. Imagine a fruit with a giant seed at its center, like an avocado or a peach. The good news of the gospel message is like the seed at the center, and the flesh surrounding it is like the good deeds of gospel demonstration. When that fruit falls to the ground, the power of reproduction lies in the seed at the center. However, that seed needs the nutrients of the surrounding flesh to take root and grow.
Thus, gospel proclamation must be enfleshed by gospel demonstration to take root and flourish in someone’s life. The flesh surrounding the seed is what gives the fruit its aroma and makes it taste so good. Without good deeds adorning the good news, it will likely fail to take root. We can take this analogy further. Once the seed of the good news falls into our lives, takes roots, and begins growing, the tree is not mature until it begins multiplying through fruitfulness. The seed comes to maturity in fruitfulness. That’s what the seed is for.
Similarly, the good news comes to maturity in good deeds. There is an organic connection here. The good news must be enfleshed in good deeds to take root, and the good news must produce the fruit of good deeds.
Notice in all of this, nothing happens without the seed at the center. The seed at the center is the indispensable core with the power of multiplication. If a seedless fruit falls to the ground, no matter how nutrient rich it is, it will not germinate life. And if a tree bears seedless fruit, it might smell and taste delicious, but it will not multiply. Seedless fruit is sterile.
