earticle

영어

Evangelism should be understood not merely as verbal proclamation, but as an invitation to justice. This reorientation emerges from a missiological understanding that the gospel of the Kingdom of God integrates personal salvation, community restoration, and social justice. The gospel is not just a message to induce individual conversion, but a holistic invitation through which God’s justice and mercy are embodied in everyday life. Therefore, evangelism must be grounded in the way the church lives with its neighbors and bears witness to the gospel through its communal life. From a communication perspective, verbal transmission alone is not sufficient for the gospel to be fully communicated. The gospel is conveyed more deeply through relationships, acts of sharing, care, justice, and the communal pursuit of peace. Evangelism is no longer a one-way act where givers and receivers are divided, but must be reframed as a mutual invitation to participate in justice and reconciliation. The fruit of the gospel takes concrete form when churches share resources, resist structural injustice, and restore broken relationships. When the church lives justly, the gospel becomes reality rather than rhetoric. Today, churches relate evangelism and social responsibility in different ways and can be categorized into four types: first, churches that engage in social responsibility but do not evangelize; second, those that evangelize but ignore social responsibility; third, churches where evangelism and social justice are inseparably integrated; and fourth, those that see evangelism as a response to social needs. Among these, the third model best embodies holistic mission. This model invites people not merely to doctrine or private decision, but into a community where justice, love, and solidarity are actively practiced. Such a community enacts God’s reign in everyday life and treats the practice of justice as a tangible expression of the gospel. Justice is not a tool for evangelism, but the way in which the gospel is lived and the public fruit of salvation. Thus, justice practice becomes a form of public communication of the gospel’s essence, and the church must witness to both evangelism and justice through its communal life. Evangelism must go beyond individual conversion and serve as a summons to join God’s redemptive work for the restoration of the world and transformation of communities. This perspective challenges the traditional dualism between evangelism and justice and offers a vision for the full expression of the gospel in the life of the church.