Good News and Good Works: A Theology for the Whole Gospel

by Ronald J. Sider

Concerned to promote an authentic, biblical faith, this book suggests ways to combine evangelism with social action for effective witness in today's world.

Genres: Theology, Discipleship, Justice, Christian, Spirituality

256 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 1999

About the author

Ronald J. Sider (PhD, Yale University) is the founder and president emeritus of Evangelicals for Social Action and distinguished professor of theology, holistic ministry, and public policy at Palmer Theological Seminary in Wynnewood, Pennsylvania. He is the author of numerous books, including The Early Church on Killing, the bestselling Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger, and The Scandal of the Evangelical Conscience.

Reviews

[Norman Falk · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this book very helpful. I owe Sider so much for rescuing me through this and his other books from my individualised christianity. I specially appreciated his attempt to integrate the most popular atonement models (chapter 5). I loved to see how Sider, instead of rejecting this or that model, indicates the way how these different atonement models complements each other and as a result helps the church to accomplish more faithfully the mission.
One issue I had with this book is it's to frequently repetitions of some points. But still, very recommended!!

[Steve Irby · Rating 3 out of 5]

I just finished "Good News and Good Works: A Theology for the Whole Gospel," by Ronald J. Sider.

Sider begins by speaking to how for the last 100 yrs, since the publishing of "A Theology for the Social Gospel," there has been a very either/or tone that has accompanied a specific churches approach to, from one extreme, "saving souls" to, on the other hand, being justice warriors who have lost their enchantment and only seek the betterment for the poor. Beside this he tells of growing up in the Church of the Breathren and having such an example from his parents that there was never any tension between good news and good works.

He helpfully charts out four models of the church and where they fall on ten different doctrines. The four models are evangelical, radical Anabaptist, dominate Ecumenical, and secular Christian. The ten doctrines are sin, anthropology, what is the Gospel, meaning of salvation, history and eschatology, source of theological truth, object of Evangelicalism, how the Gospel is shared, how society is changed, and the locus of God's activity. He then walks through some analysis of the four models and ten doctrines. The above is worth the cost of the book.

Sider is now going to spend time focusing on what faithful interpretation of some of the aforementioned doctrines are before he offers a fifth model of the church, a model which wants to fully express a Christlike theology of good news and good work.

The Kingdom:
Evangelicals, Dispensationalists, liberationists, liberals and Charismatics (...all schools of thought) have often cited the same scripture(s) (Lk. 4, for instance here) to promote their theology which builds their doctrine of what the Kingdom is, what it looks like and what is our involvement in it. He lands on inaugurated eschatology was precisely what was proclaimed by and in Jesus: the Kingdom is here revealed in the person and work of Christ and it will be fully consummated when He comes back.

"If the Kingdom is separated from Jesus it is no longer the Kingdom which He revealed," p 59.

The Kingdoms People:
Jesus called rich and poor. He told the rich to help the poor. As can be seen in the sermons on the Mount/Plain the good news of the Kingdom is good news that would have resonated with the poor. Add to this what it means that Jesus' ministry began right at the close of a Jubilee year where the enslaved--who were often enslaved to pay debts--are set free. The Essenes banned anyone physically disabled from their Jewish sect; Jesus' good news was an invitation to these people into His Kingdom. Jesus is always upside-down and backwards and people can't stand it. Love God, neighbor and enemy...yes, them too.

Salvation:
If God can reconcile us to Himself then He can reconcile us to each other. What does salvation mean depends on the model of the church one is most deeply affiliated. Salvation is individual and corporate. Not just this but salvation speaks to our past, present and future. It is a gift that is bigger than we imagine and more comprehensive than we can picture. To see this we must break out of the salvific cages we have limited the work of Christ in. We were saved in the past. We weren't left that way and we are being saved (perfected). When He comes again we will be saved (glorified). He doesn't leave anyone dripping on the carpet, rather He keeps working on us in His grace. Sometimes when Paul speaks about past and present tenses of salvation they are so intertwined that it tough to tell the difference. This throws modern Evangelicalism for a loop because it sounds like one is saved but not saved since they continue to be saved. Just keep living like Jesus.

Repentance:
This is largely defined as "a radical transformation." From the biblicist side this means right relation vertically but a comprehensive view sees that a right relationship vertically is expressed horizontally: if you love God you will love your neighbor and enemy. That's what radical transformation looks like. Repentance is to be preached in all ways applicable so that transformation is applied in all applicable areas.

Why evangelize?:
The first point here has to do with Christology: if one has a very low Christology, more like a Jesuology (Jesus was a great and wise teacher, Rabbi, and/or prophet) then one is much less likely to brag about that. But if one believes that Jesus is the very essence--shining radiance--of God through whom all was made who is with God and is God then things change.

Why do social action?:
There is more scripture about God's concern for the poor than prayer or the atonement. He takes it serious but it seems we can be among the church and for years totally miss the import of this. One way to think about this is that we aren't primarily bodies (materalism) nor are we primarily souls (Gnosticism) but we are primarily body-souls: as God made us this way so our action to others should focus on body-souls where and as needed. Jesus met the needs of body-souls because he had compassion and pity on them. Can we, His followers, do less?

The fifth model of the Church:
This model sees evangelism and social action are two distinct things. Only persons become disciples and serve Christ. We can not confuse and conflate the two. Sider sees evangelism as primary in importance and social action as secondary.

Though distinct for obvious theological reasons evangelism and good works do or can work together. One way includes the proclamation of the Gosple which includes sin. Finney, for all his theological issues, included repenting of participating in slavery when having the big tent altar call.

I have to note that I believe evangelists, biblical scholars, pastors, and theologians are often poor political philosophers and horrible economists--I said the same about Moltmann's socialism chapter at the end of TCG. Once in the social activity category there are a lot of people approaching topics emotionally and not always rationally. An example is a statement about a gosple campaign in India which didn't address child labor; this impacts 40 million people (p 174). So if child labor is eliminated what happens? Yes, families starve because children don't labor in LCCs to buy an Xbox, it's for the family at best and for their own survival at worst if they are orphaned. Eliminate child labor and children may have to sell the one thing they have that is marketable. If, and it's a big if, child labor (and by extension the next category "sweat shops") are eliminated then the ramifications have to be considered. No one said child labor is nice rather it is good for the child--i.e. valuable--and therefore the family. Child labor and sweat shops reduce prostitution; emotion doesn't see that far while the economists logic does. The answer is the businesses which employ labor in India. When as the book says Jesus is Lord of the bedroom and boardroom then the person is changed. When Jesus impacts the CEO of the company in India then change will impact families. But pass a minimum wage law and the companies who have non-Christian leaders will go to another LCC because that's human action and human action is what logically runs markets.

An excellent book that covers the good news and how it looks with good works.

#GoodNewsAndGoodWork #Kingdom #Gospel #RonaldJSider #RonaldSider #RonSider #Ecclesiology

[Spencer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Book Review: Good News and Good Works: A Theology for the Whole Gospel
Summary:
Good News and Good Works by Ronald Sider is about overcoming the problem of one-sided thinking in the churches of America. By one-sided, he means that most churches either focus on evangelism or social action, but not both. As a result, one-sided churches are not obedient to the call of the gospel: that is to reach out to and love the lost as in the Great Commission and to love our neighbor and show mercy as in the Second Greatest Commandment. This of course is a result of understanding and accepting how Jesus Himself thought about and responded to the physically, socially, and spiritually sick people, families, communities, and social structures as He walked the earth.
For a book that is only around two-hundred pages, Sider covers a great deal of information. I found myself underlining and making notes constantly which dramatically and negatively affected my reading speed; however, it affected me in many positive ways which I will discuss in a following section on ministerial strengths. The information that Sider covers is full of Biblical references and stories, as well as many organizations that have performed wholistic ministry throughout the last several decades; many of which he gives no definition for or framework by which to understand the organization. Throughout the pages of his writing, it seems evident that his primary theme and thrust is for the Christian not to be passive or one-sided. Sider works very hard at explaining that Christians must evangelize and care about making social change. He says on pages 17 and 18, “...I believe, a genuinely biblical perspective inseparably interrelates and intertwines evangelism and social responsibility without equating or confusing the one without the other.” In the early chapters, Sider demonstrates how many religious movements have grievously erred in accomplishing this task of interrelatedness between evangelism and social action. As I read, I couldn’t help but think of John’s address of the seven churches in Revelation although the author certainly does not make this connection.
After dealing thoroughly with issues of how different religious organizations look at evangelism and social action, the Good News of the Kingdom in its most broad sense, and the topic of salvation, Sider deals in detail with the two main topics he has been discussing: Evangelism and Social Action. He asks the question, “Why Evangelize?” in chapter 7. This was perhaps my favorite chapter of the book. In it, he makes the case both biblically and from a sensible, easy to understand perspective the rationale for evangelism. I think any minister could easily transform this entire chapter into a wonderful sermon series. The chapter motivates the reader to be a “watchman to warn those who are perishing (133).” Chapter eight begins with the question, “why do social action?”. His arguments are very strong and convincing that the Christian should be involved with social action. For instance, the section on types of social concern make great sense. His use of the Bible to show Jesus as the example for social concern is stellar; however, when he gets into Jesus and politics, he begins to lose me. On page 153, he says, “It is true that he [Jesus:] did not organize a political group to lobby the Roman senate, but neither did he organize a “foreign missionary” society to evangelize the Romans.” First of all, are the apostles and the church not a missionary society designed to evangelize Rome and all the world? Second, it seems strange that all along he uses Jesus as our example for social action, but then says even though Jesus didn’t do this or that, we should. Here I think he is stretching the boundaries of the case he is trying to make. Social action is important, even if it is just our idea. He fares better I think to just say this. Lastly from this section, although he made a great effort to make the case that Christians should be involved in politics, he failed to do so.
As Sider moves into part five, I found myself really beginning to question some of his assertions. For instance, he really goes out of his way to make the case for evangelizing conglomerates and social structures. This really just makes no sense. Conglomerates and social structures are composed of people, who do indeed need evangelization; however, it seems as though he is trying to coin new terms here or push too hard for evangelism at some root level. Considering these things, it surprised me when I read on page 162 that he believes Christians can work with non-Christian or even anti-Christian groups and never speak about Jesus. It seems as though this section was written by someone other than the guy who for the first one hundred pages was pounding on the reader about the need for evangelism and wholistic ministry.
The book concludes with a clear picture of the need for wholistic missions, churches, discipleship, apologetics, political engagement, and Christians. He often asks the question, “What would happen if...”. This allows the reader to dream of the perfect world where all Christians actively engage the lost, and support the poor and oppressed in our churches and individual lives. On page 194, Sider says, “If Jesus spoke the truth, if the Bible is God’s Word, then every Christian congregation should be wholistic.” I think he is right. This book makes a strong and undeniable biblical case for Christians to be involved in both evangelism and social action.

Biblical and Ministerial Strengths
As I said in the summary, Ronald Sider effectively used a large amount of scripture to make his case that Christians should be focused on evangelism and social action. The vast majority of the passages used in his writing I felt were within context and thought through with proper exegesis. I thought the case for evangelism in chapter seven was perhaps the most significant chapter from a Biblical strength perspective. The way he laid out the case for evangelism, all from scripture was phenomenal and perhaps one of the best cases I have ever read.
From a ministerial perspective, I thought the overall concept and support throughout the book for a wholistic approach (evangelism coupled with social action and support) to ministry was superb. Of course, this is what he apparently set out to do considering the title of the book. I think he makes a case clear enough that a minister could readily see where things can be done in one’s own church and make a case for it from the Bible for the rest of the body. I have read some things in the past on different ministry topics that made a case for a particular type of change, but the biblical connectedness was weak. This book really gives the biblical “horsepower” necessary to be convinced of the message (if we take God seriously that is) and proclaim it to others. I also think that a strength of the book is the honest approach he takes at some church structures or religious groups. I felt that his honesty may really make some people stand up and take notice of their own systems and practices that may be faulty as it relates to evangelism or social action or both.
Biblical and Ministerial Weaknesses
Overall, I don’t have a negative opinion of Siders use of the Bible. He seems relatively conservative in his use of scripture and even says from time to time that he won’t make a case a certain way because the Bible just doesn’t allow for it; however, I think at times he does push the Bible and some of the concepts therein too far. For instance, on page 85, he talks about how salvation happens in history and is social, corporate, and communal. There is no doubt that salvation comes to large groups of people at the same time as on the day of Pentecost, but it does not seem accurate to think that by being a part of a certain community or group, one will be saved (outside of the Jewish people perhaps in the exodus?). Salvation is still an individual process, and Sider seems to go the wrong way here.
As Sider tries to make his case for where to allocate resources on page 168ff, I think he takes some liberties with the Bible that are perhaps just his opinion. For instance, he says on page 170 that Jesus would have wanted us to spend equal resources on evangelism and social action. If done properly, the two should not be distinct, so in one sense, they would have equal resources; however, I can’t understand how he believes that the Bible would make a case that Jesus was as concerned with digging a well as He was with eternal salvation. On the previous page, Sider tries to make this case for social action as equal to evangelism since Jesus healed others so often. To Jesus though, His presence and His healing (although out of compassion) pointed directly to Him as Messiah. I think this case for resources is dangerous from a ministry perspective. Social action is important on its own, but I am not convinced that it should be done without a direct link to evangelism.
Specific contributions made by the text to their present and/or future ministry context:
Two and a half years ago, I began a ministry called Suburban Missionaries. My goal was to get people focused on evangelizing the suburbs since in my mind the inner city was already taken care of. This class and this book have helped me see what a one-sided, and inaccurate view that was. Suburban Missionaries has always been marketed as a resource to help people who already have everything. The reality is that even in the “burbs”, people don’t have everything. Yes, suburbanites have debt and lousy marriages in secret, but we also have our fair share of social injustices to contend with. Many get rich on the backs of the poor. This is not a message I have ever focused on for that ministry much less thought about. For Suburban Missionaries, the goal is to implement a more wholistic approach. That is, to talk about social action and social injustice that at times keeps others from obtaining prosperity (owning the ponds) as well as specific things some people in business often do: lie, cheat, and steal to get where they are. The evangelism is important, but I agree that there needs to be a sense of social responsibility taken and communicated in our evangelism to the suburbs.
In my church ministry work at Northland Mission Church, I have already decided that we need an Urban Ministry. The need is greater than I ever imagined, and our suburbanite church goers need to see it, and feel compassion for it, a desire to make changes happen, and an opportunity to actually do something about it. I have already changed my sermon series for February to begin talking about ministry and the need to “do” something, not just “hear” something and nod our heads. I will be working at assembling a team of laity that has a heart for urban ministry and get resources such as Kozol and Sider in their hands. Hopefully in March, our “Deployment Sunday” where we put feet to our faith will provide us an opportunity to start talking about how we at Northland Mission can reach into the city and make an impact for the Kingdom.

[Chris · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ron Sider strikes again. Why is half the American church obsessed with the message of salvation while ignoring issues of poverty and injustice, while the other half focuses only on social issues to the exclusion of evangelism? Sider brings a great perspective to this situation, presenting a Biblical gospel, where the good news and good works go hand in hand.

[Becky · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book about how our call to share the gospel through words, is interdependent on our call to live the gospel message through action (ie feeding the hungry, caring for the poor, showing compassion, working for social justice, etc.). Without one, the other suffers. They go hand-in-hand in the life of a disciple of Christ. Encouraging and inspiring read.

[Andrey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good News and Good Works: A Theology for the Whole Gospel

[Don · Rating 3 out of 5]

TALBOT Course: Church and Society

The author argues about Social Justice and Salvation going hand in hand. It can be confusing at times, but he's definitely on to something.

[Jeremy Meeks · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting and provocative, but too often poorly argued and missing the point. Worth the read if one is engaged in the topic, but there are better books out there