Deuteronomy 5:7-11
7 If there is a poor man among your brothers in any of the towns of the land that the LORD your God is giving you, do not be hardhearted or tightfisted toward your poor brother. 8 Rather be openhanded and freely lend him whatever he needs......
10 Give generously to him and do so without a grudging heart; then because of this the LORD your God will bless you in all your work and in everything you put your hand to. 11 There will always be poor people in the land. Therefore I command you to be openhanded toward your brothers and toward the poor and needy in your land.
Now I have a problem with this verse. Not it's content by any means. I believe that as Christians we need to assist the poor and we don't we are not completing our full duties as Christians. And I believe that as a whole, Christians can do a lot better job than what we are doing. (A LOT BETTER)
But God calls everyone to do this in different capacities.
I was sitting in a class that I absolutely love called Justice in a Pluralistic Society taught by Reverend Coleman. Freakin awesome guy. But he started talking about something that did not sit well with me. Now I don't know if this is his opinion or if he was just presenting an argument. He started talking about churches that don't focus on the poor enough. He was talking about churches that build buildings that are millions of dollars and how that money could be used in such better ways AKA assisting the poor.
I was sitting there thinking to myself "well I work at a church that just happens to be in the middle of a 5 million dollar capitol campaign to build a new building. There is nothing wrong with that" Is it a sin that our church is growing at such a fast rate that we need more room to fit more people??
What do you think?
Some people are called to sell there whole life to the poor. To sell all there possessions and become a monk and beg for their food. Hallelujah. I am so happy that God has given you that passion. But God does not require everyone to have a passion for helping the poor. He requires everyone to have COMPASSION toward them.
I'm tired of people thinking that because we have money and decide to spend it on a building that we are self-centered Christians.
Have we forgotten the Great Commission?
19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the father, the son, and the Holy Spirit.
Now don't get me wrong I am not bashing on missionaries or monks or anyone whole gives their whole lives to the needy and has that passion for the poor. I'm just tired of getting bashed on for not having that same passion and for working at a church who decides to spend their money on a new building and reaching lost souls which is just as important.
Does this mean that because I’m aware that my passion is more for reaching lost people that I can just ignore the poor? Absolutely not. Does this mean that a person whose passion is for the poor and not as much for reaching lost people can just forget about evangelism? Absolutely not. It’s a matter of finding ones passion, pursuing it, and being aware of things that we are not as passionate about and helping out in any way that we feel called to.
7 If there is a poor man among your brothers in any of the towns of the land that the LORD your God is giving you, do not be hardhearted or tightfisted toward your poor brother. 8 Rather be openhanded and freely lend him whatever he needs......
10 Give generously to him and do so without a grudging heart; then because of this the LORD your God will bless you in all your work and in everything you put your hand to. 11 There will always be poor people in the land. Therefore I command you to be openhanded toward your brothers and toward the poor and needy in your land.
Now I have a problem with this verse. Not it's content by any means. I believe that as Christians we need to assist the poor and we don't we are not completing our full duties as Christians. And I believe that as a whole, Christians can do a lot better job than what we are doing. (A LOT BETTER)
But God calls everyone to do this in different capacities.
I was sitting in a class that I absolutely love called Justice in a Pluralistic Society taught by Reverend Coleman. Freakin awesome guy. But he started talking about something that did not sit well with me. Now I don't know if this is his opinion or if he was just presenting an argument. He started talking about churches that don't focus on the poor enough. He was talking about churches that build buildings that are millions of dollars and how that money could be used in such better ways AKA assisting the poor.
I was sitting there thinking to myself "well I work at a church that just happens to be in the middle of a 5 million dollar capitol campaign to build a new building. There is nothing wrong with that" Is it a sin that our church is growing at such a fast rate that we need more room to fit more people??
What do you think?
Some people are called to sell there whole life to the poor. To sell all there possessions and become a monk and beg for their food. Hallelujah. I am so happy that God has given you that passion. But God does not require everyone to have a passion for helping the poor. He requires everyone to have COMPASSION toward them.
I'm tired of people thinking that because we have money and decide to spend it on a building that we are self-centered Christians.
Have we forgotten the Great Commission?
19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the father, the son, and the Holy Spirit.
Now don't get me wrong I am not bashing on missionaries or monks or anyone whole gives their whole lives to the needy and has that passion for the poor. I'm just tired of getting bashed on for not having that same passion and for working at a church who decides to spend their money on a new building and reaching lost souls which is just as important.
Does this mean that because I’m aware that my passion is more for reaching lost people that I can just ignore the poor? Absolutely not. Does this mean that a person whose passion is for the poor and not as much for reaching lost people can just forget about evangelism? Absolutely not. It’s a matter of finding ones passion, pursuing it, and being aware of things that we are not as passionate about and helping out in any way that we feel called to.
1 comment:
I like this question! I don't think it's a sin by any means and what you do with your money is your deal. I do believe that this verse is challenge to the church because the money that we get is a gift from God. If CCV could find a place to have service (say in a park), seat all their people for free (on blankets), and give the money to the local homeless shelter would it be a better idea and/or would they do it?
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