Let us do good unto all men...

There is one question that has had my mind wrapped up for a while. It has kept me from posting this last month and if i don't start to get this question on paper it will keep drawing me back to it much longer. The question is, "What is the role if the local church in meeting the needs of the unsaved and non-church members?"


This has been a question that I have avoided for some time. I once thought it was cultural and only matter for churches located in inner-cities and surrounded by populations in great poverty or need. But a few factors have impacted my thinking on this subject including the current political climate and volunteer projects we have encountered recently. I also think this is a question that many traditional congregations today tend to avoid or try to address on a individual basis. 


This question has also surfaced from another friend who was frustrated with the perceived lack of responsibility by youth ministers for the behavior and needs of the youth in their surrounding communities. The ministers they spoke with did not see a role for the church in preventing violence outside the realm of the church membership. If the youth came to them and addressed their spiritual need then they would be glad to help. Almost to a fault, they were so focused on the needs of their own flock of youth, that they could not see the needs of the sheep that were regularly threatened outside of their fold. This reminded me of the way the Pharisees set such strict boundaries for association outside of the synagogue and how Jesus was criticized by them for eating with the sinners.


I had believed , at the start of this third millennium, that the Christian church was one that was trying to be based on service, charity, and personal sacrifice as the primary means to winning the hearts of unbelievers to Christ. I had generally thought the idea of restricting church charity only to the members of the church was rare and foreign to the work of the modern church. While many churches do try to hold service days, in the more traditional circles we seem to have resisted any shift to define ourselves as "spiritually driven community service organizations."


Even today's political landscape has been littered with contentious debate around roles and responsibilities of both government and the church. How "big" should government be? What liberties are guaranteed to religiously based institutions that aren't churches such as schools and hospitals? How do we keep our social commitments to care for an aging population and keep our economy stable? Should governments subsidize not-for-profit services in the community?


The message I cant get away from I have heard preached numerous times it describes how Jesus told the woman at the well that the true worshipers worship in "Spirit and in Truth." I believe that the modern church is full of spirit but often lacking in sound spiritual truth. This is an imbalance in our approach to worship. However, it is a repairable balance, in my opinion. I believe that we must be just as concerned with worship that is spiritless. I fear that the "fox" of ritualistic worship and service in the church is the one that far more prevalent today. As our recent Young Adult Retreat focused on, we must be "authentic Christians" if we hope to be "effective Christians."


What I'm learning is that leaders in some churches hold to a concept that the individual believer alone bears the responsibility to help someone in need. This teaching holds that that the church's role is to only help those members within the church. The referenced example is that of the Good Samaritan who acted out of kindness and love but without the authority of a church body. The argument for this perspective is that we are to do good to individuals but must avoid organized works of charity by the church. Some have even said that the church is guilty of "forcing" charity on to those in need as the social welfare system (supposedly) does. 


I want to explore these two thoughts for a moment.


First, I ask, "who is the church supposed to serve?" Without a doubt, the body of Christ must take priority to care and nurture the body. Paul describes it clearly in his letter to Ephesus: 
For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: (Eph. 4:12)
We cannot neglect the work of the ministry for the labor of our own needs. For the sake of our own growth and the corporate growth of the church body, we must put a priority in the physical, spiritual and emotional health of our church body. I firmly believe that we have done well to address the spiritual needs and we hope that the other needs would be meet as a result. However, I have often seen churches struggle or move much slower than they should because we are inadequately prepared to care for fellow members. The lack of internal care translates into a lack of external care, and is where, I can only suppose, the idea of the Christian having only an individual responsibility and not a corporate responsibility to serve others outside of the church body.


The easiest, most direct answer to "who do we serve" is: those in need. As Jesus says he came not to save the righteous but the unrighteous, to heal the sick not the healthy, so are we as his earthly body to serve the those Christ served.


I think the most compelling passage that confirms the corporate giving of the church is Galatians 6:6-10. 
6Let him that is taught in the word communicate unto him that teacheth in all good things. 7Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. 8For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. 9And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not. 10As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith.
So go back to the English classes you took growing up and let us examine this passage. First you see the individual directives. You know, those things called pronouns (me, he, we, they) and nouns that help us determine the speaker or the person being spoken to as well as the number of those being addressed (me or us). The first part of this passage addresses the individual; "him that teacheth," "he that soweth." These directives address the individuals responsibility that is often related to the "golden rule" of doing unto other what we would like done unto us and that we will be held accountable for our actions in due season.


in verse 9 we see a transition to the collective responsibility when Paul writes for "us [to] not be weary" because "we shall reap, if we faint not." We know that the "we" mentioned is referring to the work of the body of believer's "well doing." This transition of responsibility lead us into the last verse that continues the idea of corporate responsibility and accountability when is says "...let us do good unto all men..." and clearly gives us a global vision for caring for others. 
10As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith.
Just in case someone was unsure if that is only believers or unbelievers, Paul clarifies with an "...especially unto them who are of the household of faith." As I stated before, our first responsibility is for the health of the body and for the members that the body is built with. Our second responsibility is a clear one, to do good unto all men based on the principles of reaping and sowing in well doing. 


We must not overlook the charity of the church to the lost nor the nourishment of its own members. The burden for social welfare cannot be carried by the government alone and the cycle of need cannot be broken by budget cuts. Only the work of Christ can meet all needs and we must be willing and able to give the gospel and break bread. A body that is focused on knowledge and not action will not be healthy and one that is focused on activity but not knowledge will not be effective.


And in the words of one of my mentors, Dr. Michael Canty, "Let's just go do some good stuff."