On a wider perspective
Submitted by Forgiven on July 29 2000 05:29:50
In reply to You don't say, you do submitted by Heather on July 28 2000 22:06:38
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It is only the work of the Holy Spirit that can convince anyone to become a Christian - all we do is point them in the right direction. The danger of the 'Do' bit is that it becomes the only thing that Christians ever get round to - which is as bad as doing nothing, because if they have not heard the gospel, then they're ultimately no better off. I always find it significant that neither Jesus nor the early church set up extensive social programs of the type that we tend to do these days - instead there was real human contact; taking the homeless into your homes, not setting up a hostel. For me the real test of any Christian social program is whether as a result people are becoming Christians - otherwise you're marginally improving the ride on the road to Hell (cf Lenin v the Socialist?!). My perception is that usually they don't. Unfortunately once programs are up and running, especially with full time staff, it becomes impossible to close them because 'they are doing a good work'. But is it of lasting value in God's eyes? There's an alternative interpretation of Matthew 25 (the sheep and the goats) that points out that Jesus refers to what 'as you did it to one of these my brethren' - and in speaking of his brethren, he is referring to the saved, not everybody. OK - so it's a hard balance and I'm not claiming I've got it right, but I think it is a fair question. |
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