Service and The Gospel

Where does this all fit?  Tough to say, I'm reading a book by Chap Clark and Kara Powell from Fuller Theological Seminary called Deep Justice in a Broken World.  This book seeks to strike the balance between social justice issues and personal salvation.  Although the book is mainly pointed toward youth workers and interacting with their students it is very useful for all Christians.

It tackles tough questions about social reform and personal salvation and which end the gospel falls on.  The answer is not which side but both/and.  It really hammers home the idea that we get to do deep justice because we are saved.  That God would have that all be taken care of.  It also talks about how too many fall on the extreme conservative side where Christianity is solely about personal salvation, and the extreme Liberal side how forget the salvation part let's just do the work.  It strikes the chord of balance that says yes to both and seeks to connect the two practically.  

How much time has the church wasted because of theological reasons in helping the poor?  And how much time has the church wasted in throwing away the Jesus thing in order to "help" the poor?  This may be more of an evangelical problem, but Lutherans are stiff and need to engage the world because we do have the theology the world needs to hear.  Time to get off the sidelines and err on the side of grace.