Government Aid? Never enough... Wednesday, September 19, 2007 |
A proposition for my readers: If there is disagreement please let me know...
If we were to invest the same amount of time and energy into pursuing change through the Church that we invest into pursuing change through the government, the payoff here on earth would be exponentially greater (not to mention the Kingdom benefit).
Sure, positive change can come through the government (or through the rather limited avenues for change that the government allows). However, it takes a great deal of time and energy to create even a little change, and big changes only occur very rarely.
I suspect that when we work through the Church (ie. the Body of Christ) we will be able to create much larger change with much less time and much less energy.
Let me provide an example of what I'm talking about.
Homelessness is obviously a major problem in many urban centers. Pursuing change through the government requires a great deal of lobbying, of protesting, of capturing (and holding) the attention of the media, of rationalising, and of imposing constant pressure upon politicians, corporations, and policy-makers. Engaging in that process requires a great deal of time and energy and the end result is always minimal. The government creates 50 more units of affordable housing, or offers to open up 40 more shelter beds (in the winter only), that sort of thing.
So, what is the alternative to this that the Church (followers of Christ) offer? Really, it's quite simple. We take the words of Isaiah 58 seriously and "bring the homeless poor into our homes." Rather than begging and pleading with the government, we simply become the change we seek elsewhere. Rather than wasting a great deal of time and energy asking the government to open new homes, we simply open our homes to the homeless.
And so on and so forth. Rather than waiting for the government to eradicate poverty (something that it will never do), we can become the sort of community that is described in Acts wherein a form of sharing exists that leads to the observation that "there were no needy persons among them" (Acts 4). It's all rather simple (which isn't to say that it is easy). All we need is a little imagination and a little courage; a little hope, a little faith, a little love.
Why waste all that time and energy elsewhere? I'm certain this seems quite simplistic, but I currently have two empty bedrooms in my house every night, plus a cozy basement I'm blogging in right now, which would comfortably sleep several folks looking for a place to stay.
Sorry, guess I'm feeling idealistic tonight. Oh to take Jesus literally...Lord, that's what I want my life to look like. Yours. Literally.
If we were to invest the same amount of time and energy into pursuing change through the Church that we invest into pursuing change through the government, the payoff here on earth would be exponentially greater (not to mention the Kingdom benefit).
Sure, positive change can come through the government (or through the rather limited avenues for change that the government allows). However, it takes a great deal of time and energy to create even a little change, and big changes only occur very rarely.
I suspect that when we work through the Church (ie. the Body of Christ) we will be able to create much larger change with much less time and much less energy.
Let me provide an example of what I'm talking about.
Homelessness is obviously a major problem in many urban centers. Pursuing change through the government requires a great deal of lobbying, of protesting, of capturing (and holding) the attention of the media, of rationalising, and of imposing constant pressure upon politicians, corporations, and policy-makers. Engaging in that process requires a great deal of time and energy and the end result is always minimal. The government creates 50 more units of affordable housing, or offers to open up 40 more shelter beds (in the winter only), that sort of thing.
So, what is the alternative to this that the Church (followers of Christ) offer? Really, it's quite simple. We take the words of Isaiah 58 seriously and "bring the homeless poor into our homes." Rather than begging and pleading with the government, we simply become the change we seek elsewhere. Rather than wasting a great deal of time and energy asking the government to open new homes, we simply open our homes to the homeless.
And so on and so forth. Rather than waiting for the government to eradicate poverty (something that it will never do), we can become the sort of community that is described in Acts wherein a form of sharing exists that leads to the observation that "there were no needy persons among them" (Acts 4). It's all rather simple (which isn't to say that it is easy). All we need is a little imagination and a little courage; a little hope, a little faith, a little love.
Why waste all that time and energy elsewhere? I'm certain this seems quite simplistic, but I currently have two empty bedrooms in my house every night, plus a cozy basement I'm blogging in right now, which would comfortably sleep several folks looking for a place to stay.
Sorry, guess I'm feeling idealistic tonight. Oh to take Jesus literally...Lord, that's what I want my life to look like. Yours. Literally.