Jesus . . . gave His disciples a challenging mission to renew the face of the earth by spreading the message of His salvation to all humankind. He wished His Church to be dynamic, not static, and to transform humanity from within by being the salt of the earth, the light of the world and leaven in the dough, in order to prepare the advent of a new creation, “a new heaven and a new earth” (Rev 21:1).

Those bracing words were delivered on July 21 at the Lambeth Conference of Anglican bishops.  They were not, however, delivered by an Anglican, but by the Roman Catholic representative to Lambeth, Cardinal Ivan Dias.  Born in India, Dias served as Archbishop of Bombay until appointed Prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples in 2006. 

In addressing the bishops on the topic, “Mission, Social Justice, and Evangelisation,” Cardinal Dias drew the connection between the three.  Referring to Jesus’ announcement of his mission in Luke 4:18-19, Dias noted, “We can see here a reference to the close relationship between the mission to preach the Good News and the necessity to be alert to the needs of our brethren relating to social and justice issues.”

While he did not say that an exclusive emphasis on social and justice issues was a error, the Cardinal made it clear that “to preach the Gospel is not an option, but a command.”

The urgency to preach the Good News is as true today as it was two thousand years ago, even if some scholars have naïvely declared God to be dead, forgetting that they are dealing with a God who found His way out of the grave; and notwithstanding the opinions of some theologians who blush at proclaiming the uniqueness of Jesus Christ and the universality of His salvation, mindless of His stern warning that, if anyone denies Him here before men, He will deny him before His Father in heaven (Mt 10:33).

In fact, belief in the uniqueness of Jesus Christ and the universality of His salvation has been handed down to us since the beginning of Christianity.

The double reminder of “the uniqueness of Jesus Christ and the universality of His salvation” is a necessary corrective to the relativism infecting the Church.  Earlier this month, the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life reported, “Seventy percent of Americans with a religious affiliation say that many religions—not just their own—can lead to eternal life.”  This includes evangelical Protestants and, no doubt, a significant number of Anglican bishops.  It is way of thinking that rings the death knell for evangelism.  If all religions lead to eternal life, why trouble people with the Gospel?