Well-articulated! I've had severall conversations along these lines recently, which have grieved my heart. "It's the church's job, not the government's!" does indeed seem to mean, "I don't want my tax dollars to go toward that and I'm not going to give personally, either." There is nothing of the heart of Jesus there.
Because I cannot personally be everywhere and do everything, I am more than happy when my tax dollars go toward providing food, clean water, shelter, medical care, rehabilitation, and a welcome to foreigners. It is in those actions that my secular government most closely aligns with the heart and commands of Jesus, regardless of their motives.
Thank you for putting into words things I've felt for a very long time. I was raised in a Christian tradition that not only disliked government programs, it GREATLY disliked organized charity within the church, slanting that charity was the work of INDIVIDUALS. "Let not your left hand know what your right hand is doing." The cognitive dissonance is baffling.
My frustration is government laws that keep us from doing just that. I have a friend who renovated her basement to allow refugees a place to stay as they're getting settled. She wasn't allowed to be part of the project because it did not have a full kitchen or what they considered a separate enough entrance. Meanwhile, my neighbor who was in Afghan refugee, would have been happy for a Sunday school classroom in a church. Our church wants to support a local initiative that houses homeless and churches overnight in the winter. But we don't have male and female showers in our aging church and, therefore, cannot be part of the program. And, let's not forget the gentleman in, I believe, Indiana, who is fighting the government, and has been arrested for simply opening his church during freezing winters for people to come in off the street and sleep in the pews.
The government is unwilling to care for those in need, but, then, our government makes it impossible for those who are willing to care for those in need. We live in strange times indeed.
I would love to see Christians fall all over each other to be the most charitable. A long time ago, I thought that it was only the church and not the government that was to do this work. But then I read an article about who actually provides food to hungry people in (in this case) NY City. And while churches did have soup kitchens, the number of hungry people those kitchens fed was absolutely dwarfed by the school lunch program for poor kids alone. So when the church (collectively) is willing and able to do all that work... please let me know, super-conservatives.
Well written and spoken. Understanding the context of 1st century Jewish and early Christian practice and belief is really important, it is better to work from there to modern society than try to fit modern society into inaccurate perceptions of what people think the Bible might say.
On a separate but related note it is one of the 5 pillars of Islam that, annually, you should, as a Muslim, give 2.5% of your wealth to the needy (it is called zakat) and is current and effective.
I hold these seemingly contradictory truths about social welfare — Christians can say it’s not the government’s job but should never oppose government doing it. In fact, Christian should always vote for it because a Christian should never oppose the least among us getting whatever assistance individuals, society, or government can muster.
Beside, social welfare helps create a more stable society, which helps free markets flourish
>>But hey, even if you are just authentically libertarian in your belief that the government just could never be a good provider of aid, you don't need the government to stop offering services in order to outcompete it.
Unfortunately this is not true. Not only will the government tax you for their services, forcing you to pay more than twice, but it will burden you with regulations which will, in the end, make it illegal for you to provide truly Christian aid.
Any "Christian" that says things like "It's not the governments job, its the church's" isn't actually a Christian at all. They are the phony Christians that haven't actually read scripture and comprise the vast majority of evangelicals in the US.
Nah, not really. The scriptures, if you've read them, are pretty straight forward. Christ's words are generally very direct and not that hard to interpret. Not a lot to struggle with in "love thy neighbor as thy self".
Telling anyone who thinks the Church should do what secular governments often won’t that they’re not even a follower of Jesus with zero nuance or exception is absolutely a generalization.
I’m not saying governments can’t do good things, and actually agree with you more than you think.
I understand your point to a certain extent, but I'm no longer willing to extend the benefit of the doubt to people who claim to be Christians and then act in an un-Christian like manner. Actions speak louder than words, and tryingto destroy the greatest government the world has ever known, and celebrating a morally bankrupt, Satanic grifter are not my ideas of Christian behavior. And in a shocking coincidence, you'll find that most people that make the claim that charity is the church's work and not the government's work, do both of the aforementioned two things.
Well-articulated! I've had severall conversations along these lines recently, which have grieved my heart. "It's the church's job, not the government's!" does indeed seem to mean, "I don't want my tax dollars to go toward that and I'm not going to give personally, either." There is nothing of the heart of Jesus there.
Because I cannot personally be everywhere and do everything, I am more than happy when my tax dollars go toward providing food, clean water, shelter, medical care, rehabilitation, and a welcome to foreigners. It is in those actions that my secular government most closely aligns with the heart and commands of Jesus, regardless of their motives.
Thank you for putting into words things I've felt for a very long time. I was raised in a Christian tradition that not only disliked government programs, it GREATLY disliked organized charity within the church, slanting that charity was the work of INDIVIDUALS. "Let not your left hand know what your right hand is doing." The cognitive dissonance is baffling.
Great piece! Christianity and social welfare - not a link I’d thought much about, but you illustrate the idea well!
My frustration is government laws that keep us from doing just that. I have a friend who renovated her basement to allow refugees a place to stay as they're getting settled. She wasn't allowed to be part of the project because it did not have a full kitchen or what they considered a separate enough entrance. Meanwhile, my neighbor who was in Afghan refugee, would have been happy for a Sunday school classroom in a church. Our church wants to support a local initiative that houses homeless and churches overnight in the winter. But we don't have male and female showers in our aging church and, therefore, cannot be part of the program. And, let's not forget the gentleman in, I believe, Indiana, who is fighting the government, and has been arrested for simply opening his church during freezing winters for people to come in off the street and sleep in the pews.
The government is unwilling to care for those in need, but, then, our government makes it impossible for those who are willing to care for those in need. We live in strange times indeed.
I would love to see Christians fall all over each other to be the most charitable. A long time ago, I thought that it was only the church and not the government that was to do this work. But then I read an article about who actually provides food to hungry people in (in this case) NY City. And while churches did have soup kitchens, the number of hungry people those kitchens fed was absolutely dwarfed by the school lunch program for poor kids alone. So when the church (collectively) is willing and able to do all that work... please let me know, super-conservatives.
Can not believe this even needs to be said. 🤦🏻♀️
Well written and spoken. Understanding the context of 1st century Jewish and early Christian practice and belief is really important, it is better to work from there to modern society than try to fit modern society into inaccurate perceptions of what people think the Bible might say.
On a separate but related note it is one of the 5 pillars of Islam that, annually, you should, as a Muslim, give 2.5% of your wealth to the needy (it is called zakat) and is current and effective.
I hold these seemingly contradictory truths about social welfare — Christians can say it’s not the government’s job but should never oppose government doing it. In fact, Christian should always vote for it because a Christian should never oppose the least among us getting whatever assistance individuals, society, or government can muster.
Beside, social welfare helps create a more stable society, which helps free markets flourish
Christians largely give money to causes that directly help themselves, like schools.
>>But hey, even if you are just authentically libertarian in your belief that the government just could never be a good provider of aid, you don't need the government to stop offering services in order to outcompete it.
Unfortunately this is not true. Not only will the government tax you for their services, forcing you to pay more than twice, but it will burden you with regulations which will, in the end, make it illegal for you to provide truly Christian aid.
This is an unfair accusation.
I’m looking for a christian!
Any "Christian" that says things like "It's not the governments job, its the church's" isn't actually a Christian at all. They are the phony Christians that haven't actually read scripture and comprise the vast majority of evangelicals in the US.
My goodness that’s a broad stroke.
Nah, not really. The scriptures, if you've read them, are pretty straight forward. Christ's words are generally very direct and not that hard to interpret. Not a lot to struggle with in "love thy neighbor as thy self".
Telling anyone who thinks the Church should do what secular governments often won’t that they’re not even a follower of Jesus with zero nuance or exception is absolutely a generalization.
I’m not saying governments can’t do good things, and actually agree with you more than you think.
I understand your point to a certain extent, but I'm no longer willing to extend the benefit of the doubt to people who claim to be Christians and then act in an un-Christian like manner. Actions speak louder than words, and tryingto destroy the greatest government the world has ever known, and celebrating a morally bankrupt, Satanic grifter are not my ideas of Christian behavior. And in a shocking coincidence, you'll find that most people that make the claim that charity is the church's work and not the government's work, do both of the aforementioned two things.