When we see wealthy nations doing whatever it takes to guarantee their continued lifestyle and "way of life", while other peoples are left (with many excuses for that) behind, like in Darfur. I find this as just one of the scandals of living in a fallen world.
Being a good Samaritan begins at home. What about in our neighborhood? Among those we know? In our church? City? This is where we need to begin. As well as giving to those who help the poor, such as World Vision.
And I write off political candidates who call themselves "pro-life", yet say nothing about addressing this problem.
<idle musing>
I was reading in Finney's Lectures on Revival yesterday. In it he asks how we can consider ourselves a Christian and not care for the poor both among us and in foreign lands. The evangelical movement, starting with the Wesley's, was very concerned with social justice. It continued with abolitionists in the U.S.; the Salvation Army began as an outreach to the poor and homeless.
What happened? Now all Evangelicals talk about is abortion and gay marriage. Those are important, but not the only things that are. We need to move beyond those and address other problems as well.
We need to understand that abortion and gay marriage are but symptoms of a deeper problem—the sinful self. As long as we only address those two issues, and not the other ones, we can feel good about ourselves; unless we happen to fall into those two categories... But, God is calling us to examine our own lives and see where the sinful self rules in our decisions, from the most minor decision of what to eat, to the major decision of where we live. Can we cut down on consumption and take that extra few dollars and give to someone?
</idle musing>
4 comments:
Hi JPS
..just bounced into your site because of some idle googling, and picked up on the Sally Army reference.
I honestly don't think that "abortion and gay marriage" particularly high on the agenda of the SA globally. That's not to say the issues are ignored, but there's a much wider remit to the mission.
Peace & Blessings
J
John,
You are very correct. I didn't mean to imply that. My point was that evangelical used to have a social concern attached to it. That doesn't seem to be the case anymore.
James
Thanks, James! This is why I'm really not in step with, and therefore not a part of "the religious right". (not that I'm a member of the religious left, either).
We need to understand that abortion and gay marriage are but symptoms of a deeper problem
This is absolutely true, but it is equally true of the social injustices of which you speak. Abolitionism, although I'm happy we no longer have to live with the problems of slavery in the US, is not a position for which there is a lot of Biblical support. On the contrary, Paul instructs slaves to be obedient and masters to treat their slaves well, remembering that they themselves must answer to God. Granted, slavery in the Greek world was in some ways not as bad as the way slavery was in the US. Nonetheless, the point is that for a believer, there are much more important concerns than the particulars of your social situation and much more important priorities than changing your standing in society. As Western individualists, we don't like to hear that: we want to be free and independent. And there's nothing wrong per se with being free and independent; it's just not the most important thing for the Christian.
Poverty is similar, although there is much more Biblical support to be had for assisting the poor than there is for freeing slaves, and we should assist the poor as opportunity presents itself. Nonetheless, eradicating all poverty in the world is not the primary goal of the church. The primary goal of the church is what it has always been: to teach God's word. That is foremost where our focus must always be. The world at large has never liked this, has always wanted to shift the focus of the church away from it toward one kind of social concern or another, but we must not allow ourselves to be sidetracked in that manner.
As I said, we can and should assist the poor as opportunity presents itself, but we cannot allow that to become the primary mission of the church, for if it does, the church is effectively dead.
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