What is the gospel?

A group of us are starting up an A&M chapter of International Justice Mission. (please, please, check out IJM) We were looking for an adviser so I emailed a professor and she replied with some questions about how us and IJM "shares the gospel." And things like that. So I replied....it was definitely more than she was asking for....but I felt compelled. This is stuff I am desperately passionate about and I'm learning SO much about. So maybe she asked the wrong person at the wrong time--but she got an answer. The stuff I shared with her is stuff that I want to share with the whole world....and the this is the closest I've got, so here it is....



"Second, all of us who are involved in starting up IJM are madly in love with Jesus and we want everyone to experience the abundant life he has to offer, which is the only reason we are doing what we are doing. In everything I say and do, I pray that it is sharing pieces of who Jesus is. Everything. Not just when I talk about certain biblical truths--everything. So of course, that would carry over into being in an organization with people and of course it is how I even choose what kind of organizations to be apart of. It consumes all my interactions with all people.

Something that I have been wrestling with and learning much about this past year is: what is the gospel?
Is it: 1. you're sinful 2.you need a savior 3. jesus died on the cross for you 4. pray, believe, and you'll go to heaven when you die?
Is that it, or is there more?
I believe all those things are true, but I've been blessed to see so much more. The LIFE of Jesus shows me so much more. Not just the death.
It can't just be those 4 points, because Jesus talks about "the gospel" before he even dies. He tells people to start believing and following the gospel and he had not even died yet. So obviously there's something more to the gospel than just Jesus dying on the cross. Jesus' LIFE is the gospel too. The things he did. They way he lived his life is part of the Good News. If we LIVE like him and did the crazy things he did, we will experience the Good news (the transformation of our minds and hearts)and so will those around us--sometimes with out us even saying a word. This is helping me see that its not just about TELLING people the gospel in a few simple sentences. Jesus didn't just do that. He DID a lot of tangible things too and THAT was the gospel too. He fed the hungry--and to the starving family, THAT is Bread of Life (which is Jesus). He loved (talked to, hung out with) those who everyone hated, like prostitutes--and to the prostitute, THAT is Unconditional Love and Grace (that's the gospel.) And he released the oppressed from captivity--and to the little girl in the brothel, THAT is the Good News, THAT is salvation, THAT is a real God who is dear and near to her through His Body.

The other question I've been thinking about is:
If I were a 15 year old girl sitting in a brothel tonight. I had just serviced 40 men and been beaten by my pimp many times. I have heard of this "god" who "breaks the chains of injustice, gets rid of exploitation, frees the oppressed, and cancels debts." (isaiah 58) And who "heals the heartbroken, announces freedom to all captives, and pardon all prisoners." (isaiah 61) And I've also heard this "god" has told his people "Why do you make me look at injustice? Why do you tolerate wrong?" (habakkuk 1)
Man, I would be praying to that god. I would be praying to ANYTHING at that point. I would have no hope. I would think I'm worthless. I would think I don't have a soul. And I would probably have a lot of other psychological damage I don't even know about. So I would ask for help from any god. And in that situation, what would "good news" actually look like? What would "salvation" actually look like? How would I know those things were really REAL that I had heard about this god--about him freeing the oppressed and all that?
I think it would look like the Body of Christ taking their talents and gifts to investigate the injustice in that town, teaming up with the local police, storming through that brothel door, and saving me from that awful HELL I was living in. THAT would bring me hope. I would think I'm seeing Christ in the flesh.

And isn't that we are called to be? Little Christs? Hope to the hopeless?
Jesus did not come to just save us from hell when we die. He came to save us from the literal hells on earth too. He came to save us from our personal sins AND from the sins of others that beat us, rob from us, and hurt us all sorts of ways. He came to save us RIGHT NOW, on earth too! How glorious! AND, he's asked his followers to...follow him! Be apart of saving others! We have no power to save people's spirits. Jesus does not ask us to do that. Only HE can bring them to heaven or send them to hell. But he HAS commanded us to save people from the hells on earth--starvation, prison, diseases, poverty of the mind, heart, soul, rape, violence, etc. He has asked us to be apart of that great mission! How incredible is that! I don't know why--cause frankly, we are pretty messed up. But nonetheless, he's asked us.
The gospel is not just spiritual. The gospel is physical and mental and every other -al you can think of.

The hard thing with this injustice topic is that we, as Western Christians, have not really experienced REAL injustices. (i will not assume your personal story, so i don't know what you've experienced, but I'm generalizing here) So it is very hard for us to relate to this part of the gospel; to this part of Jesus. But the bible talks enough about it for us, as bible believing Christians, to just believe it and do it. (seriously, ive been studying all the places in the bible about injustice and oppression, and let me tell you--God ABHORS it.) So I don't know what its like to REALLY need to see Jesus as a savior amidst an awful injustice that's being inflicted on me, but I'm trying to put myself in others' shoes.

For the people experience this stuff, I want to show them an ultimate hope. I want to SHOW them Jesus and how powerful he is; how much he hates injustice; how much he LOVES them. So for now, while I'm a student, I can support a group of Jesus-followers who have the skills and courage to do what it takes to free these oppressed. I want to support them in BEING Jesus to the oppressed. Every day. Today. They're fighting And I can raise awareness. I can tell everyone I know about what's going on in the world and how Jesus feels about it.

The ultimate hope for IJM staff is the everlasting salvation of the clients (the oppressed) they work with. So after they do their wonderful, long, grueling work in freeing people from bonded labor or sex labor, they hope that they can put a name on what they just did--Jesus' name. They hope they get to form relationships with these people and get to use words to explain why they do what they do and all of that. But maybe they were just called to play one part in a person's journey to Christ. (Aren't we all? None of us play all the roles. Sometimes we get to explain a lot to a non-believer. Sometimes we don't say one word, but something we did showed them Jesus and that was crucial in their understanding of that Man.) So that's what IJM does. They do their part. They are only a PART of the body of christ. They work in the legal system and investigation part of it. Other parts of the Body reveal themselves through counseling facilities for girls who have been in the sex-trade and those people will use words to share part of the gospel. They may even use those 4 points that i mentioned earlier. But that's just part of a non-believers Good News journey. Maybe another part was that man who stormed through the brothel door and saved her after she had been crying out for help.

You had asked "does the organization not only help people, but in so doing share Christ and would that carry over to the campus chapter?"
I hope that answers it. I don't know if that's the answer you were looking for or not. I guess the way I see it is that helping people in the way Jesus said to do it IS sharing Christ. Fighting injustices in very practical ways within a country's authoritative justice system is part of sharing Christ.

"Feeding the hungry and righting injustice is good, but we still leave them going to hell in the end unless we share Christ. Their life ends up no better."

Maybe....or what if sharing Christ was inherent in feeding the hungry and righting injustice? What if those two things were not just "good," but were some of the very things that Jesus did and TELLS us to do as PART OF the Gospel?"