It dawned on me this morning (no pun intended) that there is a major disconnect between the Church here in America and the way Jesus said to care for the poor and marginalized...and not the way some of you “compassionate” or “liberal” Christians may think. But hold on, you “conservative” Christians, this blog is for you too.
I am reading a book right now called, RADICAL by David Platt. David is a pastor of a pretty darn big church in Alabama, but has come to the conclusion that Christianity, specifically here in the West, really is not living and breathing the Gospel the way Jesus presented it. His point: caring for the poor EVERYWHERE is part and parcel of the Gospel message. Paul told Timothy that caring for the fatherless and the widow was “undefiled religion”, and in Paul’s day, being fatherless or a widow was synonymous with being poor. We don’t have to go too deep into the 3 ½ year ministry of Jesus to see that He had a special affinity for the poor and, if we look at the Older Testament, we find that God condemned Israel, and more specifically the priesthood, for neglecting the poor. He even said that forgetting the poor in our midst was a blight on an entire nation.
There is a growing number of Christians who, with good intentions I’m sure, “lobby” the government to do more for our nation’s poor. They agree with policies that extend welfare benefits to people who could work, but don’t. With that being said, there are those who cannot work or who are part of what we call the “working poor” who need the help and it should be provided...by someone, which leads to my next point.
What is sad about this whole situation is:
1) How the church has allowed the world (read: government) to co-opt it’s responsibility to help those in need, and...
2) It shows how easy it is to side-step our own personal involvement by letting a faceless entity do our job for us.
Now, those of you who are saying, “Yeah, you tell those liberals how it is! Expose them for being the hypocrites they really are!” Well, you guys who are more conservative, wipe that smug look off of your faces. You guys are guilty of something as bad, if not worse. “What would that be?”, you may ask. Writing checks in order to side-step your personal involvement in making disciples for Jesus. That’s right...both liberal and conservative Christians AVOID really doing what Jesus said to do and that is, make it personal. I can hear the cries of “foul” already - “I’m not called to do this...” or “I don’t feel led to do that...”! We’re all called, period. When your boss tells you to do something, do you cop the plea, “That’s not in my job description!”? With being a follower of Jesus, there is only one job description and it’s found in Matthew 28:18-20.
A friend of mine told me once that he didn’t mind paying higher taxes in order to help those less fortunate than he. My open question to those of you who feel the same way is...If you actually knew someone who was in serious need, would you write them a check for the same amount as your tax liability you have at the end of the year? Chances are, no you wouldn’t. This addresses the material, practical side of the issue.
Then there are those who, like I said, would rather write a check to pay an evangelist or a missionary to “spread the Gospel”, than get down and dirty with the Holy Spirit and people who don’t know Jesus. We’ve become so comfortable in our multi-million dollar buildings (that get used maybe 10 hours a week at best), with millions of dollars worth of cars in the parking lot, that we forget that there are those who don’t have this luxury and walk miles in the dark to meet in the middle of the night on dirt floors to pray with each other so they will be strengthened to tell others about Jesus.
As I write this, I feel that the sword that I am wielding cuts both ways. I, too, have felt the sting of truth in these very words I write. The shame and guilt of NOT opening my mouth to tell of the love of Christ haunts me. I’m not one of those who could write a check to ease my conscience..heck, my family may be foreclosed on any day now, so shelling out cash to ease my guilt is not a problem I have. As with everything of a spiritual nature, it comes down to the heart. Is your heart in your wallet, or in your chest where God put it? Is you heart sitting in government coffers, or is it willing to seek out those in need and do it yourself?
When Jesus told the story of the Good Samaritan, at the end He asked who of the 3 men who approached the injured man proved to be his neighbor. The people answered
the one who showed him mercy. Jesus response? Go...and do likewise.
Think about it.
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