{"id":302801,"date":"2013-08-22T11:00:00","date_gmt":"2013-08-22T15:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast\/%series%\/resetting-the-scales-to-a-biblical-balance\/"},"modified":"2013-08-22T11:00:00","modified_gmt":"2013-08-22T15:00:00","slug":"resetting-the-scales-to-a-biblical-balance","status":"publish","type":"podcast","link":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast\/familylife-today\/resetting-the-scales-to-a-biblical-balance\/","title":{"rendered":"Resetting the Scales to a Biblical Balance"},"content":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Duane Litfin shares his concerns about Christians who are eager to get involved in social issues, yet don&#8217;t feel the need to share the gospel.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":91,"featured_media":294104,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","inline_featured_image":false,"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","episode_type":"","audio_file":"https:\/\/web.familylifetoday.com\/fl2013-08-22.mp3","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"00:","filesize":"27.42M","filesize_raw":"28749684","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":""},"categories":[2821],"tags":[4427],"podcast_series":[7968],"cwp_profile":[9314],"series":[2101],"class_list":["post-302801","podcast","type-podcast","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-reaching-out","tag-sharing-the-gospel","podcast_series-word-versus-deed","cwp_profile-duane-litfin","series-familylife-today"],"acf":[],"episode_featured_image":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1001\/2024\/09\/FLT-Podcast-Cover-2-508x508-3.jpg?w=508","episode_player_image":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1001\/2023\/02\/image-scaled.jpg","download_link":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast-download\/302801\/resetting-the-scales-to-a-biblical-balance","player_link":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast-player\/302801\/resetting-the-scales-to-a-biblical-balance","audio_player":null,"episode_data":{"playerMode":"light","subscribeUrls":{"apple_podcasts":{"key":"apple_podcasts","url":"https:\/\/podcasts.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/familylife-today\/id212174303?mt=2&app=podcast","label":"Apple Podcasts","class":"apple_podcasts","icon":"apple-podcasts.png"},"google_podcasts":{"key":"google_podcasts","url":"","label":"Google Podcasts","class":"google_podcasts","icon":"google-podcasts.png"},"spotify":{"key":"spotify","url":"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/show\/0j5UaKdQOHQCuo1bt0ebEm","label":"Spotify","class":"spotify","icon":"spotify.png"},"youtube":{"key":"youtube","url":"","label":"YouTube","class":"youtube","icon":"youtube.png"}},"rssFeedUrl":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/feed\/podcast\/familylife-today","embedCode":"<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"sRg8ty2VcM\"><a href=\"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast\/familylife-today\/resetting-the-scales-to-a-biblical-balance\/\">Resetting the Scales to a Biblical Balance<\/a><\/blockquote><iframe sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast\/familylife-today\/resetting-the-scales-to-a-biblical-balance\/embed\/#?secret=sRg8ty2VcM\" width=\"500\" height=\"350\" title=\"&#8220;Resetting the Scales to a Biblical Balance&#8221; &#8212; FamilyLife\u00ae - A Cru Ministry\" data-secret=\"sRg8ty2VcM\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" class=\"wp-embedded-content\"><\/iframe><script>\n\/*! This file is auto-generated *\/\n!function(d,l){\"use strict\";l.querySelector&&d.addEventListener&&\"undefined\"!=typeof URL&&(d.wp=d.wp||{},d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage||(d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage=function(e){var t=e.data;if((t||t.secret||t.message||t.value)&&!\/[^a-zA-Z0-9]\/.test(t.secret)){for(var s,r,n,a=l.querySelectorAll('iframe[data-secret=\"'+t.secret+'\"]'),o=l.querySelectorAll('blockquote[data-secret=\"'+t.secret+'\"]'),c=new RegExp(\"^https?:$\",\"i\"),i=0;i<o.length;i++)o[i].style.display=\"none\";for(i=0;i<a.length;i++)s=a[i],e.source===s.contentWindow&&(s.removeAttribute(\"style\"),\"height\"===t.message?(1e3<(r=parseInt(t.value,10))?r=1e3:~~r<200&&(r=200),s.height=r):\"link\"===t.message&&(r=new URL(s.getAttribute(\"src\")),n=new URL(t.value),c.test(n.protocol))&&n.host===r.host&&l.activeElement===s&&(d.top.location.href=t.value))}},d.addEventListener(\"message\",d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage,!1),l.addEventListener(\"DOMContentLoaded\",function(){for(var e,t,s=l.querySelectorAll(\"iframe.wp-embedded-content\"),r=0;r<s.length;r++)(t=(e=s[r]).getAttribute(\"data-secret\"))||(t=Math.random().toString(36).substring(2,12),e.src+=\"#?secret=\"+t,e.setAttribute(\"data-secret\",t)),e.contentWindow.postMessage({message:\"ready\",secret:t},\"*\")},!1)))}(window,document);\n\/\/# sourceURL=https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-includes\/js\/wp-embed.min.js\n<\/script>\n"},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1001\/2024\/09\/FLT-Podcast-Cover-2-508x508-3.jpg",508,508,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"kfairris@familylife.com","author_link":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/author\/kfairrisfamilylife-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"Duane Litfin shares his concerns about Christians who are eager to get involved in social issues, yet don't feel the need to share the gospel.","meta_box":{"show_notes":"","transcript_url":"https:\/\/transcript.familylifetoday.com\/fl2013-08-22.pdf","transcript_content":"<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong> For many years, Duane Litfin served as president of Wheaton College, outside of Chicago. He noticed a trend, among students, that was concerning to him. Fewer and fewer students, it seemed, wanted to say anything about their faith in Jesus. They simply wanted their actions to do their speaking for them. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Duane:<\/strong> My concern has been that the pendulum seems to be swinging, in this generation, toward the deeds at the expense of the verbal Gospel. When you find students, who are passionate about their love for the Lord, but they seem to be really relaxed about this issue of giving a verbal witness because they really have a sense that they are living Christ before these people so that that should suffice. It just seems to me that the pendulum has gone too far toward deed at the expense of the verbal witness. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong> This is <em>FamilyLife Today<\/em> for Thursday, August 22<sup>nd<\/sup>. Our host is the President of FamilyLife<sup>\u00ae<\/sup>, Dennis Rainey, and I\u2019m Bob Lepine. It may be true that our actions do speak louder than our words; but when it comes to bearing witness for Christ, we need to speak up. We\u2019re going to talk about that today. Stay tuned. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tAnd welcome to <em>FamilyLife Today<\/em>. Thanks for joining us. I was having a conversation, awhile back, with a man who lives in Myanmar, in Burma; and he\u2019s a believer. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong> Right. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong> He trains pastors in Burma. We were talking about the persecution that goes on there. I was talking to him about how the Gospel spreads in a country that is primarily Buddhist and where Christians are a persecuted minority. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tI said, \u201cI would think that through acts of kindness and charity, you would invite openness for the Gospel.\u201d He smiled at me; and he said, \u201cThat is not a strategy I use.\u201d I said, \u201cWhy is that?\u201d He said: \u201cBecause I have found that you find people, attracted to the charity, who are not, necessarily, attracted to the Gospel. When the charity dries up, so does their faith.\u201d I thought, \u201cThat\u2019s an interesting perspective from somebody who lives halfway around the world.\u201d It does tie into what we\u2019re going to be talking about today. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong> It does. The Gospel needs to be proclaimed in both word and deed. Today, I think, in many sections of the Christian community, we are guilty of having gone silent and depending more on our deeds to proclaim the Gospel than actually using words to proclaim it. <br><br>We\u2019ve got somebody, here in the studio\u2014actually, not just somebody\u2014a friend. Dr. Duane Litfin joins us on the broadcast. Duane\u2014finally, good to get you on our home turf. Duane and I sit on the Dallas Seminary Board\u2014up in corporate member\u2014and we sat together on that board. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong> Now, you\u2019ve explained it to me. You sit in the corner and kind of shoot spit wads at the other members\u2014\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong> No. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong> \u2014that\u2019s what you said. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong> We\u2019re really kind. We\u2019re not troublemakers. Anyway, Duane, welcome to <em>FamilyLife Today<\/em>. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Duane:<\/strong> Glad to be here, Dennis. Thanks for the invitation. It\u2019s good to see you guys and see what you\u2019re doing, up close and personal. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<br><strong>Dennis:<\/strong> You\u2019ve written a book called <em>Word versus Deed<\/em>. It\u2019s subtitled <em>Resetting the Scales to a Biblical Balance<\/em>. What you\u2019re really calling people to do is make sure, when we present the Gospel, we\u2019re not erring on one side or the other; but we\u2019ve really got both our words and our deeds. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tIn case our listeners don\u2019t the name of Dr. Litfin, he was the president of Wheaton College for 17 years\u2014the seventh president of that school. He has his doctorate from Oxford University; also, one from Purdue. He and his wife Sharon have three children and nine grandchildren\u2014and still live in the Wheaton area. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<br>I just have to ask you, Duane, as you crafted this book, how much did your interactions with college students inform and really move you to put this together? \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Duane:<\/strong> Well, a great deal, actually. It was, in fact, some of that interaction, over the last decade or so, that prompted me to write this and give me a sense of urgency about it because these young people\u2014Wheaton kids, in many ways, are sort of the cream of the crop of evangelical churches and homes from across the country, coast to coast \/ north to south. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tOne of the things I discovered was just a growing sense of profound concern, on the part of these students, for justice issues \/ compassion issues\u2014highly-motivated, highly- exercised about these issues\u2014but also sort of a\u2014almost a relaxed attitude toward the verbal witness. I can\u2019t tell you how often you would hear there, and in other settings, the whole St. Francis of Assisi-thing: \u201cPreach the Gospel every day\u2014with words, if necessary,\u201d as if you can preach the Gospel with your deeds. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tThe truth is that the Church of Jesus Christ, certainly, in America, has had a very difficult time finding and, then, maintaining a biblical balance of word and deed\u2014preaching the Gospel versus all of the social activism \/ social justice issues. Prior to the Civil War, there was quite a balance, actually. The Church was spreading west. Churches were being planted; but also, there was a social conscience, on the part of Christians\u2014founding hospitals, and orphanages, and\u2014\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong> Right. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Duane:<\/strong> \u2014the Abolitionist Movement, and so on. But as the 19<sup>th<\/sup> Century was unfolding, there was also this tremendous loss, within mainline churches, of theology\u2014to where\u2014 what was left in liberal Christianity was a social ethic. Christianity was about caring for your fellow man. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong> It was called the social gospel, but it wasn\u2019t the Gospel at all; was it? \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Duane:<\/strong> Exactly. It was a social gospel because that\u2019s what it was about\u2014the social responsibilities of the Christian\u2014but much of the substance had been washed out. Well, the rise of the fundamentalist movement in the latter part of that century was a reaction to that. I think evangelicals managed to recover a lot of that biblical balance throughout the 20<sup>th<\/sup> Century; but as the 20<sup>th<\/sup> Century was waning and then the 21<sup>st<\/sup> Century was upon us, I just seem to sense the pendulum swinging the other way again. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tThere tended to be sort of a rising concern for the social justice issues\u2014which I want to applaud\u2014but also, a playing down of the verbal witness. The world, watching Christians operate, will often applaud Christians who are feeding the hungry and caring for the poor, releasing the oppressed. They are not going to applaud the Word of the cross. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tWhen you preach the Word of the cross, we should not expect the world to applaud; but if the world is applauding our social activism and censoring \/ punishing us stepping up and making those outrageous truth claims for the person of Jesus Christ, what happens? Well, it\u2019s just too easy to find ourselves lapsing into the social activism, which is very much a part of what the Bible calls us to, but at the expense of that verbal witness. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong> And going silent. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Duane:<\/strong> Going silent and just thinking\u2014fooling ourselves into thinking that, \u201cWell, I preach the Gospel by the way I live.\u201d I am all for living for Christ, and this book emphasizes the importance of our deeds. Nothing about this book is playing down the importance of living a particular life and serving others in the name of Christ\u2014the deeds\u2014but I think it\u2019s a huge mistake to play down the verbal witness. It\u2019s unique, and nothing can replace it. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong> Why do you think it\u2019s so hard to have both of these active, simultaneously? \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Duane:<\/strong> I would go back to this issue of the one gets applauded and the other gets criticized. The Apostle Paul says, \u201cThe Gospel is a fragrance to life but also an aroma of death,\u201d\u2014depending on who is hearing it. Communicating the Gospel is, inherently, a verbal behavior. We should not fool ourselves into thinking we\u2019re somehow preaching the Gospel by our deeds\u2014we\u2019re not. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong> A parent, who has a son or a daughter\u2014grew up in the church\u2014and they come, at the end of college, and say: \u201cMom, Dad, I really want to get involved in a relief work. I\u2019m called to go overseas and to help with hunger issues, or sex trafficking issues, or the myriad of justice issues that are out there,\u201d\u2014should a mom or a dad be concerned about their son or daughter\u2019s involvement in something like that? \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Duane:<\/strong> The Bible does call us to that. So, no, I would not discourage that at all. To say that we need that balance is to say the Church needs that balance. It\u2019s not to say that every single individual must do 50 percent of one and 50 percent of the other\u2014that\u2019s nonsense. Some may be called to that relief agency; and that is, exactly, Christ\u2019s call on their lives. I wouldn\u2019t discourage that for a minute! Whatever opportunities He gives to share the Gospel, along the way, they should take it. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tBut I\u2019m really talking about how the Church balances itself and views this. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong> Yes, one thing I wanted you to comment on. You talk about putting both the proclamation of the Gospel and deeds\u2014that back it up\u2014in their proper role. You\u2019re not really diminishing one over the other. You\u2019re just saying, \u201cLet\u2019s not go over on one side and err to the silence of our verbal witness.\u201d \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Duane:<\/strong> That\u2019s very true. Again, it\u2019s not so much the balance I\u2019m putting on it. This thing is resetting the scales to a <em>biblical<\/em> balance. I\u2019m really trying to think, biblically, and citing, and taking us to where the Bible addresses these issues so that we allow ourselves to listen to Scripture on this subject. What the Scriptures do is call us to that rightful balance. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<br>Again, there is a unique aspect to preaching the Gospel through the verbal witness. Nothing can replace it\u2014our deeds\u2014nothing else. It is a mistake to say, \u201cWell, both our deeds and our verbal witness are proclaiming the Gospel.\u201d It isn\u2019t. You can\u2019t proclaim the Gospel by your deeds. It\u2019s inherently a verbal behavior. Having said that\u2014our deeds are the ways that we enact the Gospel\u2014we live it out. At our best, what we\u2019re doing is\u2014those deeds wind up, as Paul says to Titus, adorning the Gospel. We have the privilege of making that Good News\u2014the verbal witness\u2014more beautiful by the way we live, or we can call it into disrepute by the way we live. That is certainly true. Our deeds can do both of those. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<br><strong>Bob:<\/strong> So, somebody, who would take you to James, Chapter 2, and say, \u201cHere\u2019s James saying: \u2018You show me your faith this way. I show you my faith with my deeds,\u2019\u201d what is the Bible saying there? \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Duane:<\/strong> James is calling for both\u2014that we trust Christ\u2014we exercise faith by claiming the truth of the Gospel\u2014and we enact it by the way we live. If, in fact, we are not living the Gospel, that inevitably raises questions about whether we have really understood and trusted the very truth of the Gospel. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong> What about another passage that comes to mind? Here is Matthew 25\u2014and you deal with this in the book\u2014that the separation of the sheep and the goats. Help us understand what Jesus is saying to us there. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Duane:<\/strong> Matthew 25 is probably the most egregious example of how the Bible gets misused in this discussion: \u201cAs much as you did it to one of these little ones, you did it to Me.\u201d And the\u2014it\u2019s often used to mobilize Christians, who love Christ, and to say, \u201cWhen you give that cup of cold water to that villager in Africa, you\u2019re giving it unto Me,\u201d\u2014that Jesus so identifies with the poor, that He\u2019s embodied in the poor of the world. Therefore, when we serve them, we serve Him. The Bible simply teaches no such thing. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tThat passage, Matthew 25, has to do with His little ones. It\u2019s really talking about His followers. He is not talking there about any poor person who becomes one of His little ones simply by being impoverished, or thrown into jail, or hungry. We have an obligation to the poor and needy, who are not believers. Paul says, \u201c\u2026do good to <em>all<\/em> men, but especially\u201d\u2014<em>malista<\/em>\u2014\u201cespecially\u2014the household of faith.\u201d When we <em>serve<\/em> the needs of Christians, we are serving the Head of the Church. That\u2019s the context for Matthew 25. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong> I want to go back to a concept that you kind of rushed by\u2014but I\u2019ve got to believe there is more than one listener, who is living in a situation\u2014perhaps, married to an unbeliever; perhaps, they have a prodigal child\u2014maybe, an extended member of their family\u2014their father \/ their mother, who is not a Christian. You used the phrase, \u201cadorn the Gospel,\u201d\u2014that it\u2019s really from Matthew, Chapter 5, of letting our lights shine in a way that people, ultimately, do glorify God. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tWhat advice would you have to a woman or a man, for that matter, who is in a marriage where she or he is unequally yoked\u2014they need to adorn the Gospel\u2014but don\u2019t they also need to proclaim it, as well; or do they need to back out of that a bit and let someone else proclaim the Gospel to their spouse? \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Duane:<\/strong> Having spent so much of my adult life in a pastoral-type role, in one form or another, my first response would be, to that person, to listen to them, \u201cTalk to me about your situation.\u201d Ask them the ins and outs of what it is they are dealing with before I would try to give them very much counsel. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tThere are situations, where the New Testament says, \u201cWin them without a word.\u201d Sometimes: \u201cYou\u2019ve said enough. You\u2019ve said more than enough. Any more simply exacerbates things. Just live for Christ before them and do it with\u2026.\u201d In other cases, what they desperately need to hear is a verbal witness. Which of these are we talking about? What is this person\u2019s situation? I would want to help them sort that out, but the potential answer could be anywhere across a continuum of responses. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong> And you know, as a former pastor, that there are a lot of situations where the Gospel has been proclaimed repeatedly\u2014leaving books beside the bed stand; CDs in the car, plugged-in, so when he drives to work \/ or she drives to work, they hear it. There has been an overuse of the proclamation. There is that need to go back to the passage you cited, First Peter 3, where you lay aside the words and you do ask the Holy Spirit to use your life to win them without a word. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Duane:<\/strong> That\u2019s very true. And you\u2014you know, we\u2019re talking, here, about a family situation; but you can, actually, think about the broader context, as well. As you put this into practice and are asking the question, \u201cWhat is most needed in any given situation?\u201d\u2014word or deed or some combination of the two\u2014you can only answer that question in the light of specific conditions and situations. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tThere are times when you would simply say: \u201cI\u2019ve said enough. I\u2019ve said more than I probably should have. If I say anymore, it\u2019s just going to exacerbate the problem. This person\u2019s problem is not that they don\u2019t understand the Gospel. I just need to love them and live for Christ before them.\u201d But again, you could go to the other end of the spectrum and say, \u201cWhat this person needs, more than anything else, is to understand the Gospel.\u201d So, there is this heart to share with them the Good News\u2014and anything in between. You can only judge it, really, in the light of someone\u2019s specific life situation. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong> I know you\u2019d have to be specific for the question I\u2019m about to ask you, but I\u2019m\u2014because I\u2019m going to ask you something in general. If you were to look at people today\u2014Christians today\u2014if we are out of balance, which way are we leaning? \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Duane:<\/strong> My concern has been that the pendulum seems to be swinging, in this generation, toward the deeds, at the expense of the verbal Gospel. When you find students, who are passionate about their love for the Lord\u2014you get them into a worship service, the Lord\u2019s Supper\u2014there is just electricity\u2014where they love the Lord. They have a real heart for justice issues and compassion issues; but they seem to be really relaxed about this issue of giving a verbal witness and not at all sure that it\u2019s what\u2019s needed because they really have a sense that they are living Christ, before these people, so that that should suffice. It just seems, to me, that the pendulum has gone too far toward deed, at the expense of the verbal witness. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<br><strong>Bob:<\/strong> If you are talking to a young person, who is listening today, who would say: \u201cOkay; yes, I recognize that. I kind of think that is what is most important. We\u2019ve had enough words in our culture, and our culture is not listening to them anyway, and we better just live it out,\u201d what would you say to them? \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<br><strong>Duane:<\/strong> What needs to be recovered is a confidence in the power of the Gospel. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong> Yes. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Duane:<\/strong> The Gospel is what\u2014and the Apostle Paul said: \u201cIt is the Good News of Christ. It is the Gospel that is the power of God unto salvation,\u201d\u2014not you, me, us\u2014the Church\u2014our deeds\u2014that\u2019s not where the power comes from. Jesus said, \u201cIf any man\u201d\u2014\u201cif you just lift Me up, I will draw men to Myself.\u201d He was talking about the cross; but what we are doing, when we proclaim Christ\u2014when we announce the Good News of Christ\u2014is we are lifting Him up before the eyes of men. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tYou know this--in Galatians\u2014I think, it\u2019s Galatians 2\u2014the Apostle Paul says to the Galatians this wonderful line. He says, \u201cI portrayed Jesus Christ and Him crucified before your eyes.\u201d That\u2019s the way he described his preaching to them\u2014of lifting up Jesus, the Christ, on the cross, before their eyes. That\u2019s what we do in evangelism. If we do that, the Spirit of God draws men and women to Him. Even when we\u2019re not all that we should be, the Gospel still has power. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong> And it\u2019s what people need. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Duane:<\/strong> Desperately need. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong> It\u2019s almost like the enemy wants to come and whisper to us: \u201cThat\u2019s not what they need. Their soul doesn\u2019t really need that; does it?\u201d Yet, you look at the sins of this generation and our own lives\u2014what hope is there for us if Jesus Christ didn\u2019t go to the cross, die for our sins, raise again on the third day, and be seated next to God, the Father, offering us eternal life? What hope is there for forgiveness? That\u2019s what the Gospel represents. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Duane:<\/strong> Dennis, we\u2019ve been there before. Again, if you look back through Church history, where this confidence in the Gospel has been lost\u2014again, that social gospel of the 19<sup>th<\/sup> Century was all about saying, \u201cWhat people really need is: they need food, they need shelter, they need clean water, they need release from\u2026\u201d\u2014and people, in dire situations, need all of those things\u2014but what human beings need, more than anything else, is to come into a right relationship to God. That is what the Gospel, really, is all about. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tAnd when you have people saying: \u201cWell, that\u2019s not really what they need. What they really need is clean water,\u201d or, \u201cThey need food,\u201d\u2014while they may need clean water, and good food, and all of those\u2014they\u2019re whole persons, and they have bodies. God loves and cares for the whole person, and we need to love and care for the whole person; but Jesus is the one who set the priority on what they need more than anything else\u2014they need a right relationship with God through Christ. That is what the Gospel, first and foremost, addresses. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong> FamilyLife has a number of outreaches. Imbedded in all of those outreaches is the only message we really have that we have to proclaim: It is the truth of Jesus Christ and His finished work on the cross and the hope that that offers to people who are sitting in a marriage conference, who are listening to this broadcast, who are going through, with a group of men, finding out how to be God\u2019s man. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tIf they aren\u2019t rightly-related to God, and we just help them have a happy marriage or become a man who knows how to be a better man, then, all we are doing is making the road to hell comfortable\u2014where they\u2019re sliding down to judgment, without knowing the King of Kings and Lord of lords. If I can\u2019t proclaim the Gospel\u2014FamilyLife is not going to use its outreaches to make people happy because that\u2019s not what I believe the Bible is all about. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Duane:<\/strong> The Apostle Paul says, \u201cLive your life in such a way that it is worthy of the Gospel.\u201d Gospel-worthy behavior should be everywhere in our lives\u2014certainly, in our home, in our marriages, in our relationships with our children. What does it mean to be a Gospel-worthy parent, a Gospel-worthy husband or wife, or for that matter, a Gospel- worthy child in our relationship to a parent? Well, it all comes back to the Gospel\u2014to your point\u2014absolutely right. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong> Now, I think everyone of us could benefit, though, from some recalibration here\u2014go through a book, like what you\u2019ve written, called <em>Word versus Deed<\/em>, and just ask ourselves: \u201cAm I living the kind of life that does cause people to see the reality of and the power of my relationship with Jesus in my life? But then, have they heard me say that? Have I taken the risk to have a conversation about faith with folks?\u201d \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tDr. Litfin\u2019s book is called <em>Word versus Deed<\/em>. It\u2019s a book we\u2019ve got in our <em>FamilyLife Today<\/em> Resource Center. Go online, at FamilyLifeToday.com, to request a copy of the book from us\u2014FamilyLifeToday.com\u2014that\u2019s the website. You can also call for more information at 1-800-FL-TODAY. Ask about the book, <em>Word versus Deed<\/em>, when you call 1-800-358-6329. That\u2019s 1-800- \u201cF\u201d as in family, \u201cL\u201d as in life, and then, the word, \u201cTODAY\u201d. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tNow, don\u2019t forget our friends at Logos Bible Software have made available a special offer for <em>FamilyLife Today<\/em> listeners, this week, on their libraries of Bible study software and the theological books that come along with them. That offer expires Saturday. So, if you want to take advantage of the special 20 percent savings for <em>FamilyLife Today<\/em> listeners, make sure you go to our website, FamilyLifeToday.com, and click the link for Logos Bible Software. Again, make sure you do it quickly because the offer expires this weekend. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tNow, let me take just a minute and say, \u201cThanks,\u201d to the folks, who are regular listeners to <em>FamilyLife Today<\/em>, who will, from time to time, get in touch with us to help support this ministry. We appreciate your financial support. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tI hope you know that we believe your first priority, when it comes to financial giving, should be to your local church. I trust that, before you get in touch with us to make a donation, you are making sure that the needs of your local church are met. We really believe that\u2019s a priority. Beyond that, as you are able to help with the production and syndication costs of this daily radio program, you become a part of the mission of FamilyLife to see every home become a godly home\u2014see husbands and wives keeping their marriage covenant, living out their faith in front of their children, raising those sons and daughters in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. FamilyLife is all about providing practical, biblical help for marriages and families. As you help support us, you are a part of that mission, as well. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tIf you are able to support us this month, we\u2019d like to say, \u201cThank you,\u201d by sending you a couple of CDs that have a conversation we had, not long ago, with Steve Farrar about how a dad can anchor his family in Christ for a hundred years. We\u2019ll send you those CDs when you go to FamilyLifeToday.com and click the button that says, \u201cI CARE\u201d. Make an online donation to help support us, or call 1-800-FL-TODAY. Make your donation over the phone, and just ask for the CDs with Steve Farrar. We\u2019ll send those out to you. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tYou can also mail a donation to us at: <em>FamilyLife Today<\/em>. Our mailing address is Post Office Box 7111, Little Rock, Arkansas\u2014and Arkansas is \u201cA-R\u201d\u2014and the zip code is 72223. Let me just say, \u201cThanks,\u201d in advance, for your financial support. We appreciate your partnership with us. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tAnd we hope you can join us back again tomorrow. Duane Litfin is going to be here again. We\u2019re going to continue talking about our words and our deeds and how we live out our faith\u2014but how we speak about it, as well. I hope you can join us back tomorrow. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tI want to thank our engineer today, Keith Lynch, and our entire broadcast production team. On behalf of our host, Dennis Rainey, I\u2019m Bob Lepine. We will see you back next time for another edition of <em>FamilyLife Today<\/em>. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<em>FamilyLife Today<\/em> is a production of FamilyLife of Little Rock, Arkansas. Help for today. Hope for tomorrow.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tWe are so happy to provide these transcripts to you. However, there is a cost to produce them for our website. If you\u2019ve benefited from the broadcast transcripts, would you consider <a href=\"http:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/donate\">donating today<\/a> to help defray the costs?\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tCopyright <sup>\u00a9<\/sup> 2013 FamilyLife. All rights reserved.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<a href=\"http:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/\">www.FamilyLife.com<\/a>\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t\t1\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>","theme_header_position":"","post_header_is_sticky":"","is_header_overlay":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/podcast\/302801","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/podcast"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/podcast"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/91"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=302801"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/294104"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=302801"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=302801"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=302801"},{"taxonomy":"podcast_series","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/podcast_series?post=302801"},{"taxonomy":"cwp_profile","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cwp_profile?post=302801"},{"taxonomy":"series","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/series?post=302801"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}