Our houseworker had just arrived at work one morning, and after greeting one another she asked me, "Have you heard about Engedu?" Engedu was an older teenager who lived on the street near our home.

When I say "lived on the street," I literally mean he lived on the street. He was desperately poor, scrounging jobs like unloading trucks, sleeping in a plastic and tin shelter, and probably engaging in a little petty theft when he was desperately hungry. A few years before I had hired him to help me do some landscaping, and we had remained friends. He did odd jobs for me occasionally, and I enjoyed stopping to talk with him and his friends on the street corner. I had encouraged him to become active in one of the local evangelical churches in our neighborhood, and he would tell me that he was attending sometimes. But I hadn't seen him recently, so I answered our worker, "No, I haven't heard any news of Engedu recently."

"He died last night," she said. At first I thought my ears had gotten confused listening to her Amharic. This young man, entering the prime of life, dead?

"I'm sorry, Chaltu, did you say he died?"
"Yes."
"Was there an accident?" I was scrambling to put the pieces together.
"No, he was sick," she answered. No more reason for questions. It made sense. I thought of him as a boy, but he was really a young man. Almost certainly AIDS. Probably exacerbated by malnutrition.

At the funeral later that day I was haunted by a question: Had I failed Engedu? Had I failed to fulfill my responsibility to him? Had I shared the Gospel with him clearly and forthrightly? I couldn't even remember for sure. Yes, I had talked about Christ with him, but I always thought of myself of "developing a relationship" with him so that I would have more credibility for sharing. Almost certainly his death had been hastened by his desperate poverty. Should I have been more aggressive in helping him find work, food, and medicine?

Perhaps even more important, as I looked around at the funeral, there in the courtyard of the Ethiopian Orthodox church, were dozens of other street boys who were just like Engedu. And they represented a tiny percentage of the thousands of other street boys and girls in Addis. What was my responsibility to the Engedus of Addis Ababa who were still alive?

The Engedus of Addis Ababa forced me to ask some of the hardest questions about my priorities, and drove me back to the Scriptures to find God's answers. What is our primary responsibility in a world without Christ, and struggling with the poverty, injustice, and violence that are the result of sin? Some would quickly answer that our primary responsibility is to share the Gospel verbally, to fulfill the Great Commission to preach the Gospel to all people. More than a full stomach or healing from AIDS, what the people of the world need is eternal life. And, of course, what Bible-believing Christian can argue with the truth that the physical results of societal sin will only last a lifetime, but the spiritual results of personal sin will last for all eternity? But others would shout back, equally loudly, that no one will listen to or respond to the Gospel unless their more basic needs are met. And didn't Christ also give us the Great Commandment, telling us to love those around us as we love ourselves? Can't we glorify God by showing Christ's love in meeting human need?

For years Christians have been arguing over the relationship of the Great Commission and Great Commandment.

My studies of the Scripture have convinced me that as soon as we start pitting the Great Commission and Great Commandment against each other we've gotten off track. Scripture makes it clear that the believer's responsibility is not simply to witness or meet human need. In fact, our responsibility is not simply to witness and meet human need. If we're asking about which is more important, social action or evangelism, we're focusing on the wrong thing all together. Our responsibility as New Testament believers is to live as complete kingdom people, all the time. As kingdom people, we must live with the Gospel on our lips and in our lives all the time.

The Old Testament is filled with prophecies that God would send his anointed one who would establish a kingdom in which all suffering would be alleviated and all wrongs would be made right, but the book of Isaiah gives special emphasis to this hope. Isaiah 61:1-2 promised that, in the power of the Holy Spirit, God's anointed one would announce a perpetual Year of Jubilee, that year of the Hebrew calendar when debts were canceled and slaves were free. He would bring physical relief to those who suffer. Though most ancient rulers took advantage of the weak and powerless to makes themselves richer and stronger, Isaiah 42:1-4 promised that God's Servant would not take advantage of the poor and weak. He would not snap off any bruised, bent reeds or snuff out any smoldering candles. Instead, he would bring quietly and forcefully bring justice and peace. Isaiah 11:3-4 promised that this descendant of Jesse would bring righteousness and justice to the earth, especially for those among the poor and powerless who suffer the most from injustice.

And, of course, the gospels clearly announce that Jesus is the one who fulfills those prophecies. Matthew 12:18-21 tells us that Jesus is the Servant of Isaiah 42. Luke 4:18-19 tells us that he is the anointed one of Isaiah 61:1-3. Matthew 9:35 tells us that Jesus' life was a ministry of proclaiming and demonstrating the reality of his kingdom in his person. And when John the Baptist wanted to know if Jesus was really God's promised Anointed One, or whether he should look for someone else, as evidence Jesus points to the way he fulfilled those Old Testament prophecies (Luke 7:18-23). Each of these texts also links Jesus' proclamation of the kingdom and his acts of compassion as evidence of the inauguration of his kingdom.

Jesus is the promised Anointed One who came to establish peace, justice, well-being, shalom—rest for his people.

But though the Anointed One has come and announced the inauguration of his kingdom, (Mark 1:15), the Gospels are equally clear that he did not fully and finally establish his kingdom with all of its power. Those Old Testament promises have not yet been fulfilled. One of the clearest truths about the kingdom that Jesus announced is that it is both already and not yet. Some New Testament texts make it clear that the kingdom Jesus announced has, in some sense, already begun (Matthew 11:12; Luke 16:16; 17:20?21; 23:13; John 18:13?38; Romans 14:17-18; Colossians 1:12?13). Jesus is now ruling over the hearts of all those who submit to him by coming to him in faith. But other New Testament texts make it equally clear that the full and final establishment of Jesus' kingdom is not yet; it awaits his return to establish his rule of perfect righteousness, peace, and plenty (Matthew 8:11; 16:28; 20:21; 26:29; Luke 1:33; 9:27; 11:2; 13:28; 21:31; 22: 16?18, 29?30; Acts 1:8; 2 Timothy 4:1; Revelation 11:15; 12:10). The kingdom is both Christ's future realm and his present reign. Though he has not yet established his rule over his earthly realm, Jesus has already begun his reign in the lives of those who have accepted him as the Promised King.

And those who have come to Jesus in faith have become citizens of that coming kingdom, here and now. The kingdom, though not yet perfectly established on earth, reigns in their hearts. And because they claim to be subjects of King Jesus, it is their privilege and responsibility to live out the values of the king who reigns in their hearts. People of the kingdom live with the values of the kingdom. Those values include proclaiming to others that perfect shalom for all eternity is found in Jesus alone. But they also include feeding the hungry, healing the sick, helping the poor break free from their poverty, and working to see peace and justice-the values of the coming kingdom-prevail on earth. One of the main messages of the Sermon on the Mount is that we are blessed (i.e., we enjoy a taste of God's eternal favor, a taste of his coming kingdom) here and now as we act as kingdom people.

More specifically, because the kingdom is already, everything we do must reflect kingdom values. We should seek to fulfill the Great Commandment to love our neighbor as ourselves in all our actions to those around us. We should promote political and economic justice in the societies in which we live. We should help the poor develop long-term structures to meet their basic needs. We should pray and work for healing of the sick, and care for those who are not healed. Believers should reflect kingdom values in the way they spend their money, schedule their time, and relate with those around them.

But because the kingdom is not yet, because the fullness of God's shalom will only be enjoyed by those who enter his coming kingdom, we should seek to fulfill the Great Commission. We should be talking about the great glory of our coming king and the blessings of his coming kingdom all the time. We should be inviting those around us to enter into and enjoy those blessings.

Kingdom people live a seamless lifestyle that proclaims what Christ has done from their lips and demonstrates the values of the kingdom in their lives, all without so much as a thought that one or the other is first or most important. Both should ooze from their lives all the time.

Missionaries can do what they can to provide food for the beggar on the street corner and tell him about the Bread of life without giving a thought as to which is more important. Kingdom people do both.

A mission can send out "water development workers" who speak about the one who gives Living Water whenever they have the opportunity, and can also send out "church planters" who evangelize, disciple, and show mercy to each person they meet. All are kingdom projects.

A local church can (and should) sponsor a micro-economic development project in a two-thirds world country, support a local evangelistic crusade, and speak out against the immoral or unjust norms of their community. They all reflect the values of the kingdom.

Individual believers can (and should) become genuine friends with the unbelievers in their lives by reaching out to meet whatever needs they may have in their lives. And a natural part of developing a friendship, for kingdom people, is to talk about their Best Friend.

Kingdom people live the values of the kingdom and talk about their worthy King all the time. Rarely do they give a thought as to which one is more important, because both are a part of being a citizen of the kingdom.

A few weeks after Engedu's death, I was with Moges, a young Christian friend who was also from our neighborhood. I mentioned Engedu's death, and he shared with me of a time God gave him with Engedu just a couple of weeks before his death. They had been talking, and Engedu had mentioned to him how hungry he was. Without a thought, Moges had invited him into roadside café for some sour, spongy injera and hot, spicy lentil stew. And while they ate, Moges talked to him about Jesus, and how he had brought meaning and purpose to his life. Moges said goodbye to Engedu that afternoon with the assurance that he clearly understood the good news of the king and the kingdom. A seamless act of fulfilling the Great Commission and the Great Commandment from a kingdom believer. Thanks, Moges, for not only giving me the assurance that Engedu knew how to enter the kingdom, but for showing me with your own life what a kingdom believer looks like.