Nothing to Do But Save... People

I once read a book by Robert Coleman, a former professor here at Asbury, entitled "Nothing to Do But Save Souls." This phrase comes directly from the founder of Methodism, John Wesley. Unfortunately, the church has forgotten about the Hebrew meaning of soul and instead replaced it with the Greek understanding of soul. For the Hebrew, a person does not have a soul; a person is a soul. There is no distinction between soul and body. The spiritual needs of Greg Coates are intimately related to the physical needs of Greg Coates -- a fact that modern science in confirming. Oftentimes the answer to spiritual depression is as "earthy" as exercise, good sleep, a nice meal, and some sunshine. Conversely, a sick soul can lead to physical sickness as well. Our bodies and souls are intimately connected and cannot be separated from one another.

This is the problem with much of 20th century evangelicalism. Somewhere along the line we became convinced that the church is called to heal sick souls... and nothing more. We ministered to an invisible, interior world of feelings, guilt, psychology, etc. My own Free Methodist Church even adopted as its slogan "One More Soul" to describe our mission and focus. But a gospel sent to minister to people's souls alone is a truncated and diluted gospel.

A close reading of the Bible will not allow us to fall into this dualistic thinking. We have more records of Jesus healing people from blindness, from demon-possession, and from sicknesses than we do of Jesus ministering to people's "souls" (in the Greek sense of the word).

This is why I found Viv Grigg's call for holistic ministry so refreshing. By refusing to divide body from soul, Grigg sums up the natural progression that takes place for a pastor who is concerned about the well-being of his people:

"1. Proclamation leads to disciplemaking.
2. Disciplemaking leads to pastoral issues.
3. Pastoral issues result in building a new social structure where economic needs can be discussed and enumerated.
4. A new social structure involves dealing with politicians and seeking changes in public policy or political personnel."

I once believed that the pastor of a congregation must be decidedly unpolitical. I can no longer affirm this now that I accept the fact that Christ ministers to the whole person. And in this I have once again become a good Methodist. John Wesley and B. T. Roberts were incredibly active on the political scene. I guess at least I'm in good company.