As an evangelical Christian, I have heard about the Gospel my entire life. However, it was not until my freshman year at the University that I received a firm grasp on the Gospel and its nature. The “Bible Belt” has retained the rhetoric of its Christian fathers, but it has not retained the original meaning and intent of the Gospel. I see this as an infinitely harmful trend.

In the beginning, God created man in his own image. Man was in perfect communion with God and found his value in him. When God created man, he said that it was good. After Adam and Eve sinned, man fell out of this perfect communion with God.

When I read the teachings of Jesus and the writings of his disciples, I see a gospel that was preached with conviction and with love. To understand why a Christian should share and spread the Gospel by both word and deed, one must understand what the Gospel of Jesus really is.

Some have responded to the Gospel by asking, “Why should I care about this ‘Gospel’? You can believe what you believe and I will believe what I believe.”

The Gospel is much larger than a story or a historical account. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is simply this: although man is dead in sin, there is hope for a restoration of communion with God through Christ! This hope is not a hope for a better life or for a higher level of self-esteem, but for salvation. One may ask, “Save me from what?” To that I answer, “God.”

God’s wrath justly abides on every man, woman and child due to sin. Romans 3 tells us that “No one is righteous, no, not one.” “But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us,Proxy-Connection: keep-alive Cache-Control: max-age=0

ven when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ,” for those who have believed in the work of Christ on the cross (Ephesians 2:4-5). Why is the Gospel called “the good news?”

The Gospel is good news because God placed his wrath on Jesus Christ as he hung on a cross rather than on me! When I placed my trust in his work on the cross rather than in myself, God counted me as righteous.

Because God has shown me grace, or unmerited favor, I am freed to live a life of love and sacrifice. Why? God showed me love and compassion when I was poor and needy. I had money and success, but my soul was needy. I was dead, but God made me alive! I deserved condemnation, but God gave me eternal life.

Now, when I look upon those who are hungry and needy in this world, I have compassion for them. They have just as much value and worth as I do, as they too were created in the image of God. God is compassionate towards the needs of the poor. In Job 34, God says that “he hears the cries of the afflicted.” Psalm 140 says that “the Lord will maintain the cause of the afflicted, and will execute justice for the needy.” The Lord carries this justice through his people. God speaks about his concern for the needy in Psalms 22:36, 68:10, 82:3 and 113:7 in order that we may grasp the need to help the afflicted.

However, we need a holistic view of the Gospel. God not only cares about the physical needs of a person, but he is more concerned that he or she is reconciled into a right relationship with himself. During his earthly ministry, Jesus advised, “Do not labor for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life.” The message of the Gospel is infinitely more valuable and needed than money or even food.

In our world, people find their worth and happiness in money, sex, success, family, religion and health. However, the only way for a person to obtain true peace, joy and fulfillment is to experience communion with God the Father through Jesus Christ.

Therefore, true social justice treats a person holistically. In seeing a homeless and hungry person, we are reminded of an infinitely greater need that exists with each person, a need to find his or her sustenance in a relationship with God the Father through Jesus Christ.

If you are a Bible-believing follower of Christ, I urge you to live a life of radical sacrifice and radical abandonment of the things of this world. See and savor the bread that does not perish and drink deeply of the living water offered by Jesus. We have a privilege to carry this bread and water to the needy and afflicted. Don’t waste your life!

Michael McDowell is a junior majoring in communication.