When I was a Buddhist, I would frequently scoff at missionary work. “Those Christians,” I’d grumble. “We’ve got world hunger, rampant poverty, and countless other issues plaguing mankind. Yet the only thing they can think of is to hand out Bibles to the masses. Pitiful.” I spat at the idea of sharing Jesus in such dark and difficult circumstances. People needed money, shelter, food, and protection, not some make-believe God watching all this suffering from afar.

There was one exception to my critical viewpoint of Christian missionary work: building houses. I could get behind my high school friends taking a week-long trip down to Mexico to build houses for those who couldn’t afford it. That made sense to me from a practical and rational standpoint.

Now that I’ve had some life experience, I’ve come to realize I fundamentally misunderstood two very important things in my younger years when it came to solving the problems of the world.

First, I failed to understand the difference between solving for a symptom versus the root problem. Take homelessness as an example. I was familiar with the symptoms and how to cure those: food to cure hunger, temporary or subsidized housing to cure a lack of shelter, etc. But even my younger self knew these cures were only temporary solutions. If these solutions had lasting impact, we would have solved the problem of homelessness in the United States a long time ago.

The root problem lies deep beneath the surface of those symptoms. When I think of the root problem of homelessness, I think of brokenness: brokenness found in people’s lives, our man-made systems, the relationships we have with one another, and ultimately, our relationship with God. 

Second, I failed to understand the source behind certain “good” and “generous” acts. Yes, my friends went to Mexico to build houses, but what was the motivation for them to do so? It was God. Otherwise, they would not have had any incentive to go. Dedicating their entire spring break vacation to building homes in Mexico isn’t what a teenager would typically do or even look forward to. The motivation clearly went beyond just “feeling good” about doing something “good.”

How do we restore “shalom” (the Hebrew word for completeness or wholeness) to something that feels beyond repair? How do we do it in a world where people constantly disagree on what is “good” and “right” on any given issue?

The answer is in the Gospel. The key is Jesus.

No, it’s not throwing Bibles at a problem. It’s also not “wishful thinking” (a.k.a. praying to some imaginary God). The Gospel boils down to having a personal relationship with Jesus and allowing that relationship to change you from the inside out. The “good” and “right” things we do then naturally flow from God as we learn to follow Jesus. We learn how to do this from Scripture and through the conviction of the Holy Spirit in us.

The Gospel is not formulaic or a one-size-fits-all model. So, how and why does it work?

Let me give an embarrassingly basic example à la One Direction’s song “What Makes You Beautiful.” Have you ever tried telling your beautiful friend how beautiful she is, only for her to swat away the truth you’ve been trying to tell her for years? Why can’t she see what you see? Why is it that she never seems to believe you no matter how many times and all the different ways you try to tell her?

Telling your friend she’s beautiful doesn’t resonate for her because you’re trying to solve the symptom (she doesn’t feel beautiful), not the root issue (she doesn’t feel worthy of being loved by someone else). But what if you shared with your friend that there is a God who created the universe and cares deeply for her? And that she doesn’t have to prove herself to Him because she is already His beloved child? 

I was this friend once. The truths found in the Scriptures completely changed my life, gave me purpose, and made me realize that I wasn’t the hideous, unlovable girl I had always believed myself to be.

The Gospel hasn’t just benefitted me; it has also benefitted others. Once I knew the truth, I became unstoppable for the Kingdom of God by unabashedly loving those around me and becoming radically generous with my time and finances. I didn’t do any of this overnight or even out of the goodness of my own heart. Instead, I did it because God called on me to obey His commands: to put Him first and to love my neighbor as myself.

The Gospel is that Jesus died for us, in order to redeem us from sin, and adopt us as His children.

John 3:16 says “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” This isn’t some trite statement in the Bible; it is the fundamental truth. It means that God loves you so much that He sent Jesus to die for you. Why? Because you are that special to Him. In fact, the Bible states that you are God’s masterpiece whom He created for a unique purpose (Ephesians 2:10).

I no longer scoff at missionary work because I have personally seen and experienced the power of the Gospel in my own life. I felt the burdens of my past miraculously lift the moment I accepted Jesus into my life. I also came to understand that God didn’t see me the way I thought the world did. I wasn’t ugly and unlovable; I was His child.

The peace I had in that moment of surrender to God was unlike anything I’ve ever felt before. Even my usual self-destructive thoughts could not take away from my newfound peace. That peace continues to grow in my heart and in my soul to this day. It hasn’t faded one bit.

Throwing the name “Jesus” around isn’t going to eradicate homelessness. However, it is undeniable that Jesus changes lives for the better.

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