JESUS LIBERATES BUT THAT'S NOT THE GOSPEL- BUT GREG ELKAN

_“Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel.”_ – Mk 16:15.

In the 1960’s, two Latin American Catholic theologians Leonardo Boff and Gustavo Gutiérrez, started preaching and promoting a gospel centred on people and community that eventually became known as “Liberation Theology”. In a nutshell, their message was that Jesus came not only to save humanity, but also to liberate the poor and oppressed. This was in response to the gross social inequalities and poverty that they observed in Latin America. 

Meanwhile, in 1966, “The National Committee of Negro Churchmen”, an ad hoc group of 51 Black clergymen placed a full page ad in The New York Times to make what they called a “Black Power Statement.” This was in response to criticisms that Christianity was a “white man's religion” and to address challenges to Black Christians coming from Black Muslims, white Christians, Black Marxists, and Black power activists. The movement affirmed Black Christian identity and called for a stronger, biblically based fight against racism. This eventually became formulated as “Black Theology.”

However, these attempts to use the Gospel to address the ills of society are not new, and go far back to the times when Christianity became a legalised religion. Today, belief systems that aim to address social injustice through the lens of the Gospel message include “feminist theology”, “Dalit theology” (India), “Minjung theology” (South Korea), “Womanist theology”, (Black women), “Palestinian liberation theology,” etc. 

Liberation theology is also the driving force behind many Christian humanitarian causes and philanthropic organisations. 

While the issues that each respective liberation theology try to address are valued ills of society, it is very imperative for us as believers to remember that though charity is a fundamental character of Christianity, charity is _not_ the Gospel.

The intentions of the founders of these movements were probably noble, but they made a fatal mistake when they lumped their causes with the Gospel message. This is usually effective at the outset and makes the Gospel more amenable to the downtrodden of society. But history has shown us repeatedly that the Gospel – the message of forgiveness of our sins through faith in Christ's death on the cross – always gets drowned out in the noise and passion of the class struggles. 

As Donald McGavran, reputed father of the modern-day Missions movement, always emphasised, _“philanthropy, education, medicine, famine relief…must never replace the essential task of mission, discipling the peoples of the earth.’_

AMEN

More Blessings await you today; you’ll not miss them in Jesus’ Name.

GREG ELKAN

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