May I step up on the soapbox for a moment again?
I am wondering why the church, aka Body of Christ has been failing in doing it's job.
Yes, you read that right, failing.
I went to the bank today and there was this angel tree with tons of tags on it. For those of you who may not be familiar with that concept, you take the tag off the tree, buy the item listed on the tag, and return it to it's original tree. The items bought will then be distributed to the askers, be it homeless people, children who have been "adopted" for the holidays due to lack of money, or whatever.
I nearly cried when I saw many of the items. This particular tree was for the "toys for tots" organization in my area. And most of the items requested by these children were not gameboys, dolls, trucks, or even candy. They were for socks, shampoo, soap, toilet paper, and toothpaste. I ask you, what 7 year old requests toothpaste for Christmas? One whose parents cannot afford it otherwise.
What is the body of Christ doing in this situation? Before I am flayed and skinned alive here, I know that many, many Christians are giving throughout the year and this season as well. But, I am talking in general here.
In Acts 2:42-43{Mssg} we read,
Everyone around was in awe-all those wonders and signs done through the apostles! And all the believers lived in a wonderful harmony, holding everything in common. They sold whatever they owned and pooled their resources so that each person's need was met.
I am just wondering. If the body of Christ lived these verses today like they were lived back in that time, would we need "social reform"? Would there be a need for food stamps, Medicaid, or even Medicare? If we took care of family like we were supposed to, providing for our own, would there be a need for Social Security?
I think that we may have missed the boat here. There is a beautiful church in my area, and the people there are really nice. It's growing, and they use the building for more than just Sunday services. There is a great basketball court, and a walking track, and two separate workout rooms, one for the men, and one for the women. I am not one to say that they shouldn't have done this at all. Hey, it's free and open to the community daily. I would say that it's really a great resource for people to workout for free, and play basketball, or whatever. Great, until you don't have the money to feed your family, or get gas to find a job, let alone going back and forth to workout.
But, part of me wonders, how many families could we have fed with the money used to build this humongous building? How many children could have the shoes they need, or clothes that fit? Or a coat in this cold winter? How many families could get the help that they needed after a layoff until they get back on their feet?
Again, I am not saying we shouldn't do what God leads us to do. If that was what they felt led to do, I am praising God for their obedience. I just personally see that as senseless. What are we doing to take care of the needs of the people around us?
I know that the economy is terrible right now, and my region of the country is by far no exception. The area I live in was built on factories that make RV's. When gas prices soared, the industry fell apart. You can't walk a mile away without finding someone who has been deeply affected by this. These are the people we call "brethren". The ones we worship with, pray with, and are supposed to love with.
They are the ones that are seeking help with basic needs such as toilet paper, shampoo, and toothpaste. Our fellow Christians. They are the ones that shouldn't be even having to ask at all. Especially from an outside source. We, as the body of Christ, should be right in there, providing for their needs. Groceries, gas, basic toiletry needs.
I want to give a 2 part challenge any of you reading this to go outside your comfort zone. (hey, it was for me at first!) Part 1 is: If you see a need, meet it! It shouldn't matter why they have that need, if our brothers and sisters in Christ have a need, it should be met!
We need to stop worrying about "paybacks" or "being owed" or even "well, if they had only done this or that, they wouldn't need me to do this". Remember, that none of us are perfect. We have all made mistakes. Just think of the hope that you can give someone by meeting a physical need as well as praying for them!
And, part 2 is this: If you have a need, ASK!!! You should not have to worry about asking your brothers and sisters in Christ for anything! If you need laundry soap, shampoo, groceries, whatever, then ask! It's hard to meet a need if you don't let it be known that there is one. And if you do not get your needs met, call me...whatever I have is yours!!!
4 people had this to say:
Hmm... well, that passage talks about Christians looking out for each other. That does not say that we should be socialistic with everything we have for the whole world.
The passage that goes counter to the one you quoted is Christ's response to Judas when the woman dumped a year's salary of perfume on Christ's feet: The poor you will always have with you, but she has done this for My burial (something like that). There will always be poor people, but we must use our funds where Christ has called us to.
Not to say that caring for widows and orphans is not important (it totally is), but we must be shrew as serpents and use our money to make friends here on earth. ...those are some of our Biblical mandates on the use of our money.
Honestly, for me, Toys for Tots means little. Spending money on getting a child a toy is hardly going to enrich his/her life. It may be fun and nice, but, to me, it reinforces a consumerism mentality. But that's me. I gladly cheer on those who feel called to bless children in that way. But for me, that is not the work of the church.
~Luke
What an awesome post! Thank you for sharing it. So much of what you said were words right out of my mouth..
It's hard for me to accept help. We have a large family and the pride issue too! I guess I need to learn to get past that!
AMEN!!!!! If I could write it in larger font I would!!!! Kory and I were just talking about this very thing!!!
I think this is well said Heather. And I disagree with your first commenter- I think pretty much the entire bible suggests that we should live a more socialist lifestyle.
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