Another way to say this is that we should love people for themselves, not as a mean to an end. Even is that end is sharing the gospel. People understand when they are a target.

On the other hand, many people will read this and say that we are abandoning the gospel and preaching a "social gospel" if we actually show the love that we are commanded to show, for their own sake and as a response to the Lord, instead of meeting felt needs in order to raise our quota.

The mighty works in the bible get mentioned because they are miraculous. Jesus giving alms to beggars didn't get a mention because that's not so miraculous. Yet He must've done it; since He was no hypocrite, and He told His disciples to "Give, and it'll be given to you" (and, contrary to how that verse is preached in churches these days, He wasn't talking about the offering) it's easy to extrapolate that He practiced what He preached. So He ministered to felt needs too; but it's the miracles that point to His divine authority, mandate, and even divinity—which was what the gospel-writers were trying to show.

Bishop Wright is correct in that the miracles, as well as the teachings, demonstrate that Jesus has come to save and heal and deliver. I would have phrased it more holistically though. The miracles validate the teachings, which validate the acts, which validate the fruit of the ministry, which validate the miracles. All these things validate one another. It's not "Jesus is Lord because He did miracles," it's "Everything about Jesus points to His Lordship." Likewise everything we do should point to His Lordship; our acts of kindness as well as acts of power and teachings.

Ministry that demonstrates the power of the Spirit is big thing. This was discussed a lot when I was at Oral Roberts University doing my DMin back in the late 90's.

One other element missing so much is that when we target the masses, we often miss the very people Jesus met with; the people in the cracks of society that do not fit our demographics.

Very thoughtful post. I appreciate the balance.

I think there is a place for meeting felt-needs in order to help with the public perception concerning people in the church (although sometimes it isn't just perception...it true). We need to be loving and loving others, and practical methods help us do that.

I also believe that works of power/miracles still take place, and help us spread the Gospel. They are part of the message...God's Kingdom is here and the Age to Come is here in an already and not yet form. There is healing and power.

George Eldon Ladd's book on Kingdom theology is a great resource.

"Conventional ministry wisdom goes something like this: When launching a new church, first analyze the felt-needs within the target area or population. Then construct ministries to address those felt-needs. Felt-needs based ministries will draw people to your church, and simultaneously positively predispose seekers to the gospel message. In this scenario, caring for peoples’ felt-needs plays a supporting role in the mission."

I have to admit that I read this part and I was ready to bail from the thread without reading further. I'm glad you qualified that with...

"What if this conventional wisdom is wrong?"

I personally find K.W. Leslie's statement to be convincing enough for me...

"The miracles validate the teachings, which validate the acts, which validate the fruit of the ministry, which validate the miracles. All these things validate one another. It's not "Jesus is Lord because He did miracles," it's "Everything about Jesus points to His Lordship."

However, there is one aspect I would like to throw in the ring which is Y'shua's compassion...just casually reading the NT reveals a very passionate and compassionate messiah.
I would not overlook compassion as a motivator...it can be a very strong attractant.

Are you kidding...?? "if Jesus’ healed blind Bartimaeus and the bleeding woman... to restore them to full communion with God and his people (something their handicaps prevented)..."

How can you say that physical handicaps prevented communion with God? I hope they arent' teaching that in seminary today! Sure, their handicaps excluded them from the misguided synagogues, but physical handicaps don't separate people from God.
His miracles proved who Jesus was, and the miracles helped those he healed and those who witnessed the healings (at leat those who were willing to see beyond their own human rules and customs)to know God, and that knowledge restored them to communion with him. Jesus' healings and teaching worked together for the glory of his Father, and we ought to emulate his words and work for the very same reason.

I think the way the Gospel of John presents the miracles (seven, which John specifically calls "signs") most clearly validates Wright's view. Here, the miracles are explicitly connected to Jesus as Lord of a new Kingdom. He is "the Resurrection and the Life," the "Bread of God. . . who comes from Heaven and gives life to the world," Who has entered the world "for judgment. . . that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind" (John 11:25; John 6:33; John 9:39 respectively). And, of course, the first and most joyful: bringing wine at a wedding, "the best wine" brought only through His work.

iIke any point that can be made in contrast to the prevailing church culture, there is truth to what the author says, and there is the ability to overstate it.

Wright nails it, Jesus heals, because of who he is. Yet even Jesus told John the Baptist's disciples go back and tell John, The blind see, the lame walk, how happy are those who have no doubts about me. Hence validation.

The point is when we meet needs the greatest impact is on the church. We look at the world around us, and go out to love them- evangelizing our hearts afresh, but also learning like God to love the world (John 3.16)Rather than sit in our churches and judge the world.

Sheerakahn, I don't think anyone wanted to convey that God rejects the handicapped, the comments were made in relation to the fact that the Jewish religious leaders of the first century certainly excluded those who didn't fit their perceptions of who was suitable for the kingdom. The woman with the bleeding problem certainly would have been excluded because under the Law she was considered ritually unclean and therefore would have been isolated from mainstream society because of her continuing problem. Jesus showed the love and mercy of God to those whom mainstream society had rejected and welcomed them into the Kingdom, something that we all need to continually keep in mind with the 21st century equivalent of these outcasts.

"How can a church effectively invite people to “die to self” while constantly appealing to their self-interests?"

Says it all. Great article. But is anybody preaching "die to self" these days?

"Sheerakahn, I don't think anyone wanted to convey that God rejects the handicapped, the comments were made in relation to the fact that the Jewish religious leaders of the first century certainly excluded those who didn't fit their perceptions of who was suitable for the kingdom."

???uh...what???
I think you mean Christian David.

Recovery ministry sounds exactly what you are talking about. Healing alcoholics, drug addicts, sex addicts; healing eating disorders, depression; healing from gambling, debt, emotional difficulties, relationhip issues. All of these conditions, and many more, keep us from knowing Jesus, and each other, in an intimate sense. Those suffering from the above conditions are certainly analogous to Israel's separation from God. This is the true work of the universal church: healing the sick.

Bill,

Are you speaking of Christians of the lost? The conditions you list are all symptoms of our lostness. They are not what seperates us from God.

However, Christians may struggle with any of those things. It is sometimes when I am struggling with my temptations, and even when I am failing, that I am drawn closest to God.

The holistic approach seems to make the most sense. We musn't forget that Jesus' ministry sought restoration, but also that a man was born blind so that "the acts of God may be revealed through what happens to him."

The other thing that I believe the seek-sensitive movement has wrong though, is that even if the sole reason for Jesus' miracles was to prove his power...it's Jesus with the power, not us. We have no power aside from Christ in us, and so pragmatism falls on it's face next to the power of God to reveal himself to those who are lost.