Transforming Society: Whose Welfare? “We [did not] eat anyone’s bread without paying for it.” 2 Thessalonians 3:8 Jeremiah 29:7; 2 Thessalonians 3:6-12 Our fourth principle in this section will give the week an interesting start. Society is transformed as Christians exercise social responsibility. Jeremiah doesn’t say to take welfare from the government. Only those unable to work or temporarily in a position where they can’t work should be on welfare. But there is to be no long term dependence on government. Being government dependent is being in slavery. That’s not why government was established. It’s the church’s job to empower people to live responsible lives. The church is not to take the place of your individual or family responsibility. But the church’s task is to equip you to be responsible and then make sure you are responsible. That’s why Paul issued his famous order to the church at Thessalonica. You don’t give charity to people who refuse to work. When their stomachs start growling, they start working. The idea is to help people develop responsibility, which means helping them develop skills so they become employable. This is urban ministry. Jeremiah is talking about pagan Babylon. Why seek it’s welfare? Because God’s people were the only ones left. That is, unless we Christians seek society’s welfare, it will fall apart. And guess what? You will fall apart with it, because even if you don’t live in the inner city, it’s overflow will catch up with you in the “burbs.” There is nowhere to run anymore. We have run out of running room. So let’s seek the welfare of the city. Let’s get people of righteousness back into the political and economic scene. Let’s get teachers who will teach right and wrong back in the classroom. Let’s deal with the racial problem, which isn’t downtown but eleven o’clock on Sunday morning…still the most segregated hour in America. We have a standard of truth that transcends all of our categories. If we would obey the truth, we would understand that there is no such thing as a black Christian or a white Christian, or a Hispanic Christian or Asian Christian. There are only Christians, and if we would come together, we could shake society for Christ and see it change! Black is only beautiful if it’s a Bible, and white is only right if it agrees with holy Writ. Posted by David Coleman of The DC Ministry “Sharing The Gospel.”
Posted on: Fri, 27 Sep 2013 10:02:48 +0000
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