What Kind of a Gospel?

When I started in urban ministry, my first crisis call-out was to a woman who had had a child by a married man, and in a drunken rage he had smashed open the front door of their pad and collapsed on a bed. There were many call-outs which were equally dramatic, if not more so. However, the focus of this post is: what kind of a gospel is adequate to such situations? The answer, in my view, is chiefly what led to the strength and "success" of my urban ministry. It has to be a gospel which includes not only God's love, the communion of saints, social justice, and so on, but sin and redemption in a radical and personal form. Rather than being judgemental, one is doing people a big favour -- and through that favour, their loyalty to the Church is strong.