In the Twentieth Century, American Christians seemed divided
between the liberal Mainline churches that stressed caring for others and
social outreach, and the fundamentalist churches that emphasized personal
salvation through Bible-study based faith.
Should a Christian follow traditional evangelism, which took
pains to save people's souls, even if it did nothing about the systems locking
then into debilitating poverty? But to some, the price for emphasizing
the caring for others and doing social outreach would be the weakening of one's
sound Scriptural grounding and knowledge, and thus the lessening of one's zeal
for saving souls. On the other hand, in the world then and now, we see so
much poverty and painful need all around us. Can we really turn a blind
eye? But today, how can we possibly go in both directions at
once?
Some have argued that Christians should only do social
outreach and caring for others as the means of advancing the faith. That
is, we should do mercy and outreach only because it helps us bring
people to faith in Christ. But, this does not seem to fit in with Jesus'
charge not to give to needy people only to get something in return (Luke 6: 32
- 35). "Doing" social outreach can indeed draw people to listen
to the message of the Gospel, but to consider that deeds of mercy and caring
are identical to Gospel proclamation is not correct.
So, perhaps there is more than one technique for obtaining
Scripture grounding. Traditionally, it was done by "preaching"
Scripture, paraphrasing Bible stories and otherwise teaching Scripture by word
of mouth.
But, sometimes people's ears are "closed" to such
words. Either they do not believe the words, or they can't muster the
desire to live by them. Sometimes instead, what really moves and excites
people is real-life examples that exemplify the Scripture teachings ----
actions taken in everyday life that are selfless efforts to help other human
beings. Think about the Good Samaritan parable ! We quote that
story to this day, even though not a word of Scripture was reported to have
been said !
Let's look for a link between Bible Study and the example we
project as practicing Christians, as mirrored in our actions toward others.
Imagine an eloquent Christian preacher who every Sunday delivers
compelling sermons. But one of his parishioners learns that the minister
verbally abuses and browbeats his wife daily. After the parishioner
discovers this, for him the sermons are completely unpersuasive. Are you
surprised? The preacher's deeds contradict his words, and so the
preacher's words have no power.
Imagine instead, a new minister whose public oratory is
quite mediocre. However, as time goes on, the parishioners come to see
that he is a man of sterling character, wisdom, humility and love.
Soon, because of the quality of how he lives his life, his
church members find that they are hanging on every word of his preaching.
His deeds and behavior support his words.
Deeds of mercy and caring should be done out of love, not
simply by rote ---- not simply by going through the motions of social
outreach. Indeed, at the same time there is no better way for Christians
to lay a foundation for their Scriptural understanding and belief than by doing
social outreach. Why? I suggest that active social outreach is a
helpful antidote to our natural tendency to think first about serving
ourselves, about which Scripture has plenty to say !
Deeds of caring and mercy can take many forms. A
person can serve in a soup kitchen for the homeless, visit and encourage
hospital patients, collect used clothing for the poor or bring meals to the
handicapped. Or, it can be as simple as helping neighbors with
their children's educational needs, or with finding a job, or helping them
learn English as a second language.
If we wish to share our faith with needy people, and we do
nothing about the painful conditions in which they live (whether they be rich
or poor), we fail to really show Christ's beauty. But, we must find a
balance between seeking Scriptural understanding and belief, and
"doing" social outreach. We must not separate these two
things from each other. The problem is that both goals use up a person's
available time. How will each of us intentionally find the proper
personal balance?
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These thoughts are brought to you by CPC's Adult
Spiritual Development Team, hoping to encourage your personal spiritual growth
this summer at CPC.
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