Good News to the Poor: Social Involvement and the Gospel

by Tim Chester

Help them or tell them? Be like Jesus or talk about Jesus? Social action or gospel proclamation? It seems the two are often pitted against each other, as if they are mutually exclusive. But the New Testament paints a different picture where both aspects are valued. In this plea for a renewed understanding of the Christian calling, Chester argues that faithfulness to the gospel necessitates a commitment to evangelism and social involvement. To that end, he structures the book around three basic theses: 1.) evangelism and social action are distinct activities, 2.) proclamation is central, and 3.) evangelism and social action are inseparable. Responding to Christians in both camps, Chester helps people to talk the talk and walk the walk.

Genres: Theology, Christian Living, Church, Christian, Evangelism, Social Justice, Poverty

224 pages, Paperback

First published April 16, 2004

About the author

Dr Tim Chester is involved in The Crowded House, a church planting initiative in Sheffield, UK. He was previously Research & Policy Director for Tearfund UK, and has been published widely on prayer, mission, social issues and theology. He is married to Helen and has two daughters.

Reviews

[Ben Krueger · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Evangelism and social action should be viewed as distinct, but inseparable activities in our mission to the poor in which proclamation is central."

Attempts to fuse development and proclamation cannot work from a biblical perspective...social change effects historical change and can be undone, proclamation effects eternal change and cannot be undone. Second, social change occurs in context of personal relationships whereas the gospel takes place in spite of our inability to enact change in one another.

[Andrzej Stelmasiak · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really wanted to give it 5 stars, because the first 6 chapters are excellent and chapter 8 about welcoming the excluded is stellar...

...but chapter 7 makes those who are even reasonably well off guilty for being so, chapter 9 is cheap rant about Christendom, and chapter 10 doesn't offer much in terms of what's the way forward.

He's too Anabaptist at times there, too.

EDIT: I've reduced it to 3 stars (originally, I gave it 4) - simply because it's only round 100 pages out of 170 which are worthwhile, that's 60% out of 5 stars.

[Timothy Hoiland · Rating 4 out of 5]

What does social action that is distinctly evangelical really look like? That’s the question Tim Chester sets out to answer in Good News to the Poor: Social Involvement and the Gospel. Chester is a pastor and seminary founder in the UK who self-identifies with the “Reformed, evangelical and missional” streams of the Christian faith. Previously, Chester worked for Tearfund, a Christian international development organization that does incredible work around the world.

Many readers of my blog will be sympathetic with the bulk of what Chester has to say in Good News to the Poor. The biblical and historical case for social action is well established, as Chester demonstrates quite well in the first chapter. From what we learn about the heart of God in Isaiah, to what we see in the life of Jesus, to the example of the early church in the book of Acts, the biblical record is clear that love for God is tightly knit to concern for the poor. The church fathers continued to emphasize this, as have Christians throughout history, including the “father of modern missions” himself, William Carey.

Having laid this biblical and historical groundwork, Chester goes on to explore a number of other topics, including the connection between social action and evangelism, how a biblical vision of the kingdom of God shapes our social action, and why the gospel is also good news to the rich. In the second half of the book, seeing poverty rooted in exclusion and powerlessness, Chester offers us a compelling vision of cross-shaped ministry that welcomes and empowers the least of these.

I was reminded of Tim Keller’s Generous Justice (reviewed here) when Chester suggests that those who have experienced the lavish grace of God can’t help but extend that grace to others, with grateful, overflowing hearts. He writes, “Our attitude to the poor, it seems, reveals a lot about our understanding of God’s grace.”

I love that Chester frames his argument around an understanding of outreach and social action called integral mission, first articulated by Christians from the Global South, including Samuel Escobar and René Padilla. He covers a lot of the same ground I did in the piece I wrote for RELEVANT last year. Chester gets even more cool points by echoing the Lausanne Covenant, writing, “Our evangelism should have social consequences as we call people to repentance.”

The whole book is informed by theology, which is of course essential for the kind of distinctly evangelical social action Chester is calling for. The gospel really is good news to the poor, and Christian social activists do no favors to themselves or others when they shy away from that good news. Neither does it make much sense when those most outspokenly “gospel-centered” speak and write as if social action were a threat to the gospel. This dichotomy is firmly established in many minds, but I’m convinced it’s for the most part unbiblical. The bottom line is that for better or worse, our theology will impact our posture towards those in need. If it seems strange to affirm that the gospel, in some special sense, is good news to the poor, it might be time to revisit the Gospels and the Prophets.

Chester isn’t just writing as a biblically literate pastor with half-baked thoughts on social action, however. He consistently cites leading practitioners and groundbreaking thinkers, showing he has clearly done his homework. Even better, he draws upon a wide swath of thinkers and practitioners, from Puritans to Anabaptists and all sorts of others in between (including, incidentally, back to back quotes at one point from John Owen and Jim Wallis, whose words rarely turn up in the same corners). But this is intentional, since Chester has no interest in simply preaching to the choir. His aim is far more important than that: “I want to urge conservatives not to marginalize those who uphold the cause of the oppressed and to urge social activists not to go down the blind alley of theological liberalism.” (Kudos to Crossway for publishing a book like this.)

As a pastor, Chester takes the local church seriously—something not all Christian advocates of social action do very well. Poverty, he writes, is a matter of broken relationships, and at its best the local church is a community of belonging and grace. For distinctly Christian development to take place, we need distinctly Christian communities. I love this way of marrying ecclesiology and social action.

If there was one part of the book I found problematic, it was his near-wholesale dismissal of “human rights” as a valid Christian concern. He regards the language of human rights as “an attempt to develop an ethic without God”—a very strong assertion. At the same time, he says we Christians can use the language even if we don’t believe in human rights as such. That strikes me as as interesting compromise, and ultimately an unconvincing one. Having read all sorts of thoughtful Christian discussions on human rights, from thinkers as diverse as Os Guinness and Nicholas Wolterstorff, I’m not as quick to dismiss human rights as incompatible with Christian faith. Rights language is complicated, yes, and depending on who’s speaking it can rest on a number of problematic presuppositions. But to cede the basis of “human rights” language to those outside the faith seems a foolish loss. Christians don’t have a monopoly on human rights, but neither should we remove ourselves from the conversation.

Nonetheless, this relatively minor argument is overshadowed by the helpfulness of the rest of the book. From start to finish, Chester demonstrates pastoral concern and theological depth, while drawing on some of the best thinking out there on social action and development.

- See more at: http://timhoiland.com/2013/10/book-re...

[Gracie Wells · Rating 5 out of 5]

Realistic and wise approach to ministering to the poor. Offers insight into why westerners view poverty the way we do, why and how poverty alleviation has been approached, what it looks like to follow Jesus in loving the poor, understanding ourselves as poor, and offering the helpful suggestion that the goal and expectation of poverty alleviation is not to fully eliminate poverty, but to bring the richness of Jesus’ love to the lowly around us.

HIGHLY RECOMMEND

[Jamie · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent book. Tim helpfully gives a rounded understanding of faith, concern for the poor and evangelism. While not perfect he gives a balanced and nuanced understanding of what is too often a neglected topic.

I’d encourage any and every follower of Jesus to give it a go.

[Caroline Z · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a decent summary of poverty and biblical social involvement.
When I mentioned the book, my dad wasn’t particularly excited about the author, and I can see why. There are certainly parts of the book that aren’t very powerful arguments from scripture, but rather seem like just a guy talking about stuff, or that spend an unnecessary amount of time analyzing studies outside of scripture.There are also some details here and there that I questioned the truth or usefulness of.

I think the author does at least come from a background of good theology though, since his overall arguments came from the right point of view. And some chapters do have stronger biblical arguments. Basically he argues that we should love and care for the poor, not seeking to completely eradicate poverty since that is impossible until Christ returns, but seeking to be a picture of a community that follows the Lord now and to give the poor ultimate hope in Jesus. With all that I can certainly agree! And in the midst of this main argument the author counters a lot of false beliefs, which combined with the correct overall view of these matters could make it a helpful book to share with friends concerned with poverty and injustice in this day, friends who are swayed by popular but false beliefs on these topics. It is also a good challenge and inspiration to use ones resources to care for and reach others for Christ, out of love and in freedom, not under compulsion to do that in one specific way.

Besides content, when it comes to the actual flow of the book I’d say “Good News to the Poor” is ok. It is a pretty easy read, which is nice. The summaries at the ends of the chapters are helpful. However there are times when a certain discussion drags on longer than it needs to, which adds with the weak arguments to make parts seem more like a guy just having a random conversation. There was also a long illustrative introduction that did not tie into the rest of the book the way I expected it to.

[Mike Jorgensen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thoughtful, biblical, charitable, and challenging

Another great work from Chester. Both evangelicals and social gospel advocates will be challenged to be more biblical and holistic.

[Jonathan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Chester writes from a conservative, Reformed perspective (and thus I may have worded things differently), for a conservative, Reformed audience. He aptly shows why social involvement (he interestingly avoids all language of "social justice") is inextricably linked to the gospel of Jesus, while also emphasizing the important work of gospel proclamation, evangelism and discipleship. Great chapters on consumerism, the nature of poverty and how the gospel is truly good news to the poor. Recommended to all people who are hesitant to become involved in social action out of fear that the gospel will be compromised.

[Ryan Holland · Rating 4 out of 5]

I would highly recommend Good News To The Poor to any minister of the Word or any social activist. It touches the topic of social involvement in a very balanced manner, discussing the importance of and relationship between evangelism and service to the materially poor. Beyond the excellent discussion on this partnership, this book also remained highly interesting as it walked through many layers of church history and touched on several theological concepts. The Scriptural passages selected were unique, deep, and compelling. For someone who has read several books on service to the materially poor, this book stands out as radically unique.

[Elizabeth Deters · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not my favorite read! The author tries to explain different perspectives Christian’s hold about social justice. He shares that poverty will not be eradicated and justice achieved until Christ comes. I also felt that he failed to see or acknowledge the harm Christians can do in their communities.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book on Christians' responsibility to the poor. A short read that was theologically rich. It acknowledges and tackles different approaches Christians have had toward social responsibility in a way that is fair and consistent.

[Tom Robson · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best descriptions of how the true gospel has a true impact on love to our neighbour

[Ruth]

A servicable overview. I walked away with some food for thought but also wished this had been a somewhat more robust treatment.

[Matt · Rating 5 out of 5]

An absolute must read for all Christians wrestling through the issues of social justice, benevolence ministry, and other issues of discipleship in a contemporary society.

[Steve · Rating 3 out of 5]

To rephrase Bishop Tutu "When people say that the Bible and social action don't mix, I ask them which Bible they are reading." Yet it seems that many evangelicals are reading different Bibles. Evangelical attitudes to social action have always been mixed. Some see it as a capitulation to the social gospel others as an integral part of the gospel. Chester in this introductory book helpfully examines this relationship.

The book begins by outlining four ways in which evangelicals in general have responded to the relationship and poses a number of key questions:
Is social involvement something we do as well as evangelism? Is there another way of doing evangelism? Is it a distraction or the real job of proclaiming the gospel?
Is social involvement a legitimate activity of Christians? Does it have biblical support?
The book attempts to explore these important issues. He provides a good case for evangelical social action but has some pertinent criticism too and he wants to see social action that is truly evangelical. He sees proclamation of the gospel message as being central to Christian social action and the need for social action to be shaped by the gospel. He argues that evangelism and social action are distinct but inseparable activities.

In the first chapter he looks at three biblical reasons for involvement: the character of God, the reign of God and the grace of God. He maintains that social involvement is rooted in the character of God and that "Our understanding of poverty is fundamentally related to our understanding of God". This focus on the centrality of God is to be welcomed.

One of the reasons for the lack of involvement is that Christianity is too often considered to be a private with no public ramifications. This misconception is investigated in Chapter 2. Calvin, Kuyper, Elizabeth Fry, Wilberforce, William Booth are all cited of examples of Christians whose faith has made a public difference. The privatising effect of human reason on through the Enlightenment and human experience on faith through Romanticism are briefly - albeit oversimplified - examined.

Chester focuses on poverty as a key social issue, but he sees it including social marginalization and powerlessness. He advocates a relational approach to poverty. Tackling poverty is much more than feeding the hungry, poverty is more than a lack of income. The root of poverty is alienation from God, poverty is economic and social: it is "about marginalization, vulnerability, isolation and exclusion." This is obviously an area in which Christianity can help.

Chester makes a good case for social action that precedes, accompanies and follows evangelism. What he doesn't do is to show how social action and social reform relate. Does social reform need to follow social action?

Chester provides good reasons for the need for evangelicals to be involved in social action. He also provides some useful suggestions and ideas for involvement and includes some pertinent warnings: social action doesn't mean doing something for the poor, it is more than providing solutions. More effective ways include helping people to help themselves: "Good social involvement is helping people o find their own solutions." Participation is key.

The book includes some thought provoking poems by Stuart Henderson, a number of vignettes that help focus the issues on real situations, a useful list of further reading and a bibliography.

[Andy G · Rating 3 out of 5]

A few weeks ago I was stood in the kitchen having a debate with some good friends about the place of social involvement in our church. You see I am big on social justice & involvement, and I get worried others aren’t. Those others get worried I am too big on it at the expense of other things! It was all this that led me to Tim Chester’s Good News to the Poor: Social Involvement and the Gospel.

The basic argument of the book is that social involvement and evangelism are inseparable actions of the church and that they must go hand in hand. In the opening chapters Tim Chester make a case for Christian social involvement, starting by looking at God’s characteristics and His view of the marginalised. Chester outlines the importance of God’s word for the poor, as well as the rich, and he concludes by looking at how the church is called to respond to the poor.

Throughout Good News to the Poor, Chester covers a historical as well as Biblical narrative, looking at how the debate has risen and been dealt with over the past 2000 years, and particularly focusing on the Gospel of Luke to see how important proclamation is to the poor.

When it comes to style, I suppose there are two ways you can look at it – Good News To The Poor can seem straight to the point and highly condensed in the way it provides information, or it can seem quite dense and more like reading an essay than a book. I experienced both in my read, but was glad when I persevered because the quality of content was well worth it.

So has my view been changed by this book? Kind of. I feel that rather than making me feel different in my view, it has changed my approach in the way I will talk to others. It is certainly a book that I would recommend to those who are exploring the role of social involvement in the church, and especially for church leaders who are feeling that they need to find a “balance”.

Good News to the Poor: Social Involvement and the Gospel is a well written, straight to the point book that will encourage those who work with the marginalised to preach the word, and those who preach the word to get their hands dirty.

[Joshua]

Solid intro to issues of mercy ministry and social involvement. Helpful treatment of the biblical basis and necessity for mercy, generosity, justice, etc. Recognizes the importance of a multifaceted approach which includes not only material relief, but also community development and structural change. However, at points his eschatology is underrealized, and he downplays the extent to which the new creation has already begun in Christ. He also is pessimistic about large-scale societal transformation and depicts Christendom in an unfair and one-sidedly negative light.

[Kai Ling, Phoebe · Rating 5 out of 5]

I like how Chester not only discusses about the theology of Christian social action, but also traces how secular humanitarian and development concepts (eg. human rights and modernism etc) come about and how they relate to the gospel. He brings us back to the knowledge of the redemptive mission of God, and how concepts like "human rights" and "rights-based development" has to be understood in light of God's rights, His will and our responsibility toward God for each other.

[Michael Schmid · Rating 3 out of 5]

In this book, Tim Chester addresses the need for the church to be involved in caring for the poor. This is not to deminish the proclamation of the gospel, which is the greatest need of the poor and which is the "good news to the poor" Jesus Christ came to proclaim. But although the gospel is of central importance, social involvement must also be a part of the church. Christ is our example. The words of Christ cannot be separated from the works of Christ.

[Jacob Coldwell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Outstanding

Far and above my expectations for a book. Great communication about the issues we are walking through today. Well done!

[Chris · Rating 5 out of 5]

1st Read: 11/6-11/21/2013
2nd Read: 12/9-12/18/2013

[Tim Suffield · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really compelling argument for the need for "social involvement" to be part of what churches do. Two issues in my opinion are:

1) Chester mentions the viewpoint that social involvement isn't part of the mission of the church and dismisses it due to the weight of Biblical instruction for the people of God to be socially just. Fine as far as it goes, but there are those who do not consider caring for the poor to be the mission of the church, because that's only preaching the gospel, but yet are heavily involved in caring for the poor because "that's what the church does." It would have been helpful for Chester to interact with this view (i.e. those who disagree with the theology, but whose practice looks very similar).

2) He doesn't tell us what sorts of things churches should/could do, and leaves the reader with a sense of "what now?" That may have been the intention, but with a world of options it would have been good to have a little more of his agenda for local church involvement. I suspect there would be less broad agreement here which might be why it was omitted, but its still helpful to have something to kick against.