So, is caring for others “the gospel”? Is that evangelism? No, not without the spoken message of the gospel of Jesus. The gospel message is the message that produces salvation. So we should never confuse meeting physical needs with sharing the gospel. Caring for others represents the gospel, it upholds the gospel, it points to the gospel, it’s an implication of the gospel, but it is not the gospel, and it is not equal to the gospel.
Furthermore, all actions of kindness, compassion and justice must be done with the hope to share our faith, otherwise we are not upholding the gospel. We share the good news always open to doing good, and we do good always with the hope of sharing our faith. We never divorce the two.
If we get nothing in return, it’s okay because it is the nature of love. But do not forget that seeing people come to Christ in the midst of suffering and injustice is to do the greatest good we could ever do. To misunderstand this is to be blinded by cultural, materialistic worldviews rather than to believe in the power of the gospel.
From J. Mack Stiles in Marks of the Messenger: Knowing, Living and Speaking the Gospel