So I was on 9marks the other day, catching up, and ran into this back and forth about “social restoration” (there’s more that I didn’t link to…keep reading). It got me thinking once again about why we do what we do. This question, the reason behind our social ministries, has become more important to me over the last few days because I’ve come to realize how much it says about our faith in Christ.
J.D. Greear set out four categories in his post that started the whole thing:
1. Some say we do community ministry because we are extending the Kingdom of God on earth: Some people believe that Jesus left us to build His kingdom on earth. We are not simply to be evangelizing the earth, as if we’re simply trying to load up the Ark before God destroys the world again. These people embrace a worldview of creation/fall/redemption/restoration. The whole point of God’s work is not simply to rescue people out of the earth, but to actually restore the earth to its glorified state.
2. Some say we do community ministry simply because we love our neighbor. Some other Christians disagree with the above, but are still involved in community ministry. They say that we are not called to build the kingdom physically on earth, other than to call people to surrender to the Lordship of King Jesus. Jesus will build the Kingdom Himself, our role in the Kingdom is to call people to King Jesus.
3. Some say social ministry is not the domain of the church; the church should only be concerned with preaching the Gospel. Other Christians go a step farther and say that preaching is the one, primary work of the church and that other good pursuits (like social justice) should not take the church away from her one task, the preaching of the Gospel. These people believe that preaching the Gospel IS the greatest act of community service they can do.
4. Some say community ministry is done as a “sign” of the Gospel, and a necessary part of preaching the Gospel. OK, I’ll admit, this is my position (which is why I left it till last.) We believe that community ministry is more than just love of our neighbor, it is a sign of the Kingdom that Jesus inaugurated. In the same way that Jesus’ miraculous signs gave physical pictures of what His kingdom was like (a Kingdom without blindness or sickness), community ministry also shows what the kingdom is really like: a kingdom of justice, progress, equity, health, and sacrificial love.
When I first read his post I was seeing the issue, and my stance, a little more clearly, so I went back to 9Marks to muddy the waters. This is where I ended up. The question: “What is the church’s role in social restoration and “mercy ministries”?
The only one of Greear’s categories that I knew I disagreed with was #1. It is not our job to restore the world, and it’s a good thing, too, because we stink at it. It’s like a Whack-a-Mole board with 400 holes. We’re going to hit a few, but not enough to win the big stuffed gorilla. If you check out my post “Literally?“, you’ll find a little insight into why I hate terms like “biblical literalism”. But I’ll admit that I do take things in the Bible more literally than most - particularly when Jesus says something matter-of-fact:
“Leave her alone,” said Jesus. “Why are you bothering her? She has done a beautiful thing to me. The poor you will always have with you, and you can help them any time you want. But you will not always have me. She did what she could. She poured perfume on my body beforehand to prepare for my burial. 9I tell you the truth, wherever the gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.”
Let me say up front that I’m not saying that ministry to the poor is unimportant. The disciples were obviously caring for the poor, or else Judas wouldn’t have suggested what he did about the perfume. Jesus talked about the poor, he talked about justice, and so did the Prophets and the Apostles. What I’m saying is that helping the poor is not of first importance, when we’re talking about the role of the church.
I think I fall at about 2.5 in the list. We do service because we love our neighbors. But community service, restoration, justice, and mercy ministries aren’t our highest calling - our highest calling is to share the Gospel. If you believe that Jesus is who and what he claimed to be, then you know that the only thing you can do for a person that will be efficacious long after those blind eyes become blind again is show them Jesus. What good is it if a man gains the whole world but loses his soul? What good is it if a man is raised out of poverty into the middle class, but dies without ever meeting Jesus? Would it not have been better for him to remain afflicted but meet and love and follow Christ?
Whenever Jesus’ ministry (healings) was about to get in the way of his mission (teaching) he retreated. Perhaps we could learn from that example. When we sense that we’re doing service in the name of service, rather than service in the name of Jesus, we should step back and evaluate. Is our ultimate goal for those we help natural comfort, or supernatural redemption?
After a while the posts at 9Marks get into a discussion of the differences between the role of the local church body, and the role of the Christians within it. I can’t decide if it’s a worthwhile distinction. On the one hand, each part of the body has different responsibilities. So each individual has a different role to play. The purpose of the whole congregation is to be the body of Christ - to do what he does, say what he says, be who he is. So we should do the things we see Jesus doing. And what we saw in his life was his single-mindedness about securing something eternal at the cross, which kept him from being derailed by focusing too much on the good things he was doing. But each believer has his own calling to service. We are called to lend to those who ask, walk the extra mile, and give our second coat to someone who doesn’t have one.
How would this church look, I wonder? A body that is about mission and evangelism, sharing the Gospel, and members who are about mercy and social justice? I’d like to see that church.
Mike’s post here.
Technorati Tags: 9marks, greear, jesus, mercy ministries, mike todd, redemption, social gospel, social justice
2 responses so far...
Thanks, I’m glad I’m not just talking to myself. It feels like it sometimes.
You can still roll on with the 4-part story. Just as long as the only part of the story that’s about us is the fall. Creation, redemption, and restoration are about God’s work without need of our participation. Well, I guess we participated by killing Jesus…
I did a series on this a couple of years ago. The first three are easy. Just remember that restoration is about God fulfilling his promise to restore his creation to its original glory. We’re the objects of restoration, not the subjects.
Blogs4God
Great, just great. I’m just polishing up a short little sermon I have to give in front of my Christian school’s chapel tomorrow morning about creation/fall/redemption/restoration. I google restoration and come to your site. And guess what, I totally agree with you - I think. Now what am I gonna talk about tomorrow?
Great post.