Repost: Trying to Get By
September 11, 2006
Posted by Dan Edelen in : Repost Functions : Trackback,
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Most people don't start their day thinking up ways to sin. Instead, most are wondering how they'll get by. Are we being the Body of Christ to them or just criticizing?
Trying to Get By
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Good post Dan - and dead on.
I just want to say a couple of things…
People who have no compassion for human beings while heaping it upon animals are wrong. People who have no compassion for animals (especially those who believe that to do so would be to “exalt” animals above human beings) are also wrong. I admit, it’s sometimes easier for me to have compassion for a frightened kitten some knucklehead shoved out of a car than the knucklehead himself, but as Jesus told the Pharisees who were so careful to tithe but neglected matters of mercy and grace in their interactions with their fellow man: you should not do one and leave the other undone. In other words, do both. Most people are more than capable.
Yep - it can be difficult and at times I have to grab a whip and a chair and tame my roaring flesh, especially when it wants to give the guy behind me in traffic, who is flashing his high beams, driving right on my tail and making unseemly gestures, to boot, a good piece of my mind…in those moments I really have to ask Abba to help me see this guy as HE sees him. It is far easier to have compassion for the downtrodden than the high and mighty, but both need Jesus, and I have to remember that, regardless of my feelings about the situation.
One other point…
Biblical compassion is always accompanied by action, however, and is never just a feeling of pity - and therein lies the rub for a lot of Christians. We are simply not taught how to “do” ministry. Example: we have a young man living in our house at the moment. He has been here for 9 months. We took him in when he was going through a difficult time, allowed him to live here free of charge, placed no real burdens on him…and as you may guess, the result has been less than stellar. He continues to drink (not in our house), even though he has had a DUI and is on a sort of probation…he doesn’t help around the house, he contributes nothing (even though he is now working again and making nice money) - and I am in the position now of having to bite my tongue every time I see him. Why? Because most of the burden has fallen on me - financially, because I am the primary wage earner, physically, because I still do most of the housework, and emotionally/spiritually, because I feel we’re enabling him to continue to drink by allowing him to remain in our home while paying nothing except his own bills. He has plenty of money to play with - too much, in fact (and no, he doesn’t offer to help with household expenses). He hasn’t come to the Lord yet, although he does recognize that he’s been given a “second chance”…
Have we learned? You bet, and the next time we take someone in, we’ll lay out some serious boundaries, but the point is that most Christians DO want to help and simply have no real idea how to do so. So along with “feelings” of compassion, there must be a way to really do the work of mercy and grace in a way that bears a harvest of righteousness.
JMHO
Our tendency in Evangelicalism is to minister as individuals rather than as a collective church. This breeds problems like the one you mentioned.
The community of the church serves as a self-corrective entity and I believe God made it that way for a reason. When we minister to others as a whole church, the chinks in our personal armor are lessened. The church also asks for discipline and response (or at least it should), but individuals may not. That’s a big weakness.
If the church were responsible to that young man and him to the church, then he would not be able to get away with what he is doing right now. The church would place limits on his behavior with respect to the benevolence he’s receiving and he would be beholden to the community rather than to an individual.
Look at inetntional communities like the Amish and you see how benevolence comes from the community rather than the individual and the power that has in the life of the person being corrected.
Our church communities in the United States are rubble. Most churches have no community life at all, no matter how much they argue to the contrary. The Church in America merely reflects the ardent individualism that plagues this country and in no way reflects the Gospel. In fact, it’s antithetical to the Gospel. As a result, our benevolences proceed out of individualism rather than the church body. That’s a stop gap measure that fails on many levels.
Some would say that something is better than nothing, but we seem to be perpetually tilted toward that little something than toward a critical mass of experience that creates real change in people’s lives.
Hi Dan,
I don’t remember seeing the original post, thanks for the repost! Your comments above could almost be a post in and of it self. Great thoughts.
{{{Candleman}}}
You are absolutely right - what you just wrote has really resonated with me. We should have the support of a body of believers, and leaders who regularly exercise wisdom and discernment, to help us navigate these rocky shoals - but we don’t. Nor do many churches seem INTERESTED in marshaling resources to help bring in one lost lamb (unlike the good shepherd who goes out looking for the little critter ) - they’re simply interested in other things, and so what are we to do? Tell this young man to be of good cheer and stout heart, that God loves him - and not lift a finger to help?
It is quite the dilemma - we know what we are to do, we know what the Scriptures say about opening our hearts, lives, and, yes, HOMES to those who are less fortunate, but to be honest, I think the CHURCH sees this commandment as the responsibility and choice of individuals within the Body, NOT as a mandate to collectively minister grace to hurting souls. And until the church in this country wakes up and understands that huge buildings, recreation halls, $10,000 crystal chandeliers, and programs, programs, programs, etc., are NOT what bring people to Jesus, what can we do?
Dan, I started reading your blog a couple weeks ago and I find it so refreshing and relevant to where I am with my Christian walk right now. A few things I struggle with:
1) Are churches adequately preparing and teaching Christians about both the real world and the balance between being in the world but not of it? For example, some go to church and constantly hear about how God is going to bless them with a house, a car, a job. But they don’t tell them what the Bible says about debt, surety, etc. and whether it is even wise or necessary for them to desire the things they want. We also make judgements about lifestyles that I feel are sometimes unnecessary. We make judgements that living in an apartment is inferior to living in a house; therefore if God blesses you abode-wise, it will be to go from an apartment to a house. Or we say, if God blesses a woman with a husband, he will have a job that pays enough to take care of all her needs, but he wouldn’t put her with a man who is making less (when they first meet).
2) I tire of hearing generalities and “worst-case” scenarios in church sermons so that it’s hard to relate what you learn to every-day decisions you make. In our frantic microwave society where else will we learn how to make decisions? On tv? By the water cooler? Certainly not after two hours of prayer on a weekday!
3) Little thorough teaching on living in community and helping others. Instead I hear that helping people are for those who are being “led” or hear “a specific word” from God.
What do we do about this? What can I do about this?