The Endurance of the Gospel, Long After the Trend Passes

As a movement of believers, addressing racial reconciliation and immigration seems more necessary and timely than ever.

The gospel is being undermined and tarnished through the lack of reconciliation among Christ-followers and lack of concern for the immigrant. As evangelicals broadly, and as the EFCA specifically, we are people of the Book. Therefore, what does Scripture have to say about compassion and justice, and what does it mean for us today?

Greg Strand, executive director of theology and credentialing for the EFCA, opened the 2018 Theology Conference in Garden Ridge, Texas, with a stirring call to the movement’s pastors and leaders as they wrestled with the topics of the gospel, compassion and justice.

“This topic, as all topics, must not only be understood historically but also be centered in the Scriptures and in the gospel of Jesus Christ. Friends, these issues—compassion and justice—are now trendy. They are trendy, but long after the trend passes, we remain faithful to the Scriptures and committed to compassion and justice as fruit-bearing of the gospel. Some treatments of this issue contain little to no biblical grounding and are more culturally or sociologically driven, but on the other hand, often too many evangelicals consider this topic a matter of indifference. It is both a critical moment and a critical topic to address biblically and theologically and historically and pastorally.” — Greg Strand

Listen to Strand’s full remarks in the EFCA Theology Podcast episode. Stay tuned for additional podcasts from the conference.