"..if we follow his example in both proclaiming the Word and acting to meet human needs, Jesus Christ living through us will produce the same spiritual results in the hearts of men and women that were produced when he walked the earth. That's an evangelism that reaches the whole of a person's life.
When Jesus describes his own ministry, he talks about preaching and healing and releasing prisoners (Luke 4:18-21). His target is the poor, the blind, the prisoners, and the oppressed. We don't see here a theology that divides a man up into little compartments- body, mind, soul, emotions, spirit- then puts one above the other and deals with that only. No, the words have physical and spiritual meaning which show Jesus's strategy to rescue whole people, and to enlist their bodies and spirits in his kingdom. Jesus makes God's love relevant to my every need, to my whole person.
Among the poor, there is often a basic cause-and-effect relationship between spiritual and physical needs. It is somehow very cruel to share the words of life with a person without sharing also things that person needs to live (James 2: 14, 17). But also, we can get caught in the shallows of welfare or paternalism if we help meet people's needs without sharing with them the understanding that they can have a new quality of life with God that lasts forever. God wants people to develop into whole human beings." -John M. Perkins from p.65-66 A Quiet Revolution
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