Shortly after Pope Francis became Pope I heard an
interesting comment on the news. The commentator was talking about Pope Francis
and his emphasis on compassion for the vulnerable. In the banter back and forth
between the various commentators, this fellow said, "It's just
Christianity 101. The basis of Christianity is to help the poor." This
commentator was not a theologian, nor was he an official spokesperson for Pope
Francis, but he expressed a common idea that many people have, which is that
the primary purpose of the church is to help the poor and needy.
While helping the poor and vulnerable is a key part of how
Christianity demonstrates the love of Christ to others (James 1:27, John
13:35), it is not the basis of Christianity. The basis of Christianity is what
Christ has done. Christianity 101 is that people, by nature and by choice,
are sinners. Anyone who doubts this need only watch the nightly news to see the
depravity of people. But Christianity 101 also says that God loves us and His
love is more powerful than man's sinfulness. Christianity
101 teaches us that our messed up condition must somehow be corrected.
After all, a loving God would never leave us in our messed up condition. This
idea that sin must be atoned for is where our concept of justice comes from.
Innately, we know that there is a consequence for bad actions and a price to be
paid when a wrong is done. One does not have to be a theologian to
understand that. Thousands of years of human history have clearly proven
that we are incapable of fixing our messes ourselves, therefore, God sent His
Son Jesus to earth to show us a better way to live. Jesus then offered
Himself up as the ultimate sacrifice for our sin, thereby satisfying the nature
of justice, as well as setting an example for daily life. That is Christianity
101.
This does not mean that helping the poor and the needy is
unimportant. Clearly Jesus expects us to do that, but helping the poor and
needed is Christianity 201, not 101. People must first address their own
sinfulness before they can help others in ways that make a long term
difference. People must first find the love of God in their own life before
they can adequately give that love to someone else through compassion that
really helps, instead of a patronizing attitude that actually hurts.
Perhaps the problem with much of what the church is doing is
that we have attempted to help the poor and needy without first finding the
help that God gives in our own lives. We must first enroll in Christianity 101,
and then progress to Christianity 201. When the church gets the order right, it
will become what it was meant to be, a place for both spiritual peace and
compassionate charity. Either one without the other is an incomplete picture of
what the church is supposed to be.
Lord, help us know You personally in a real and vibrant way
and then enable us to assist the poor with both their physical and spiritual
needs. Amen.
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This devotional is from the book “Heavenly Mundane” by Dr.
Terry W. Dorsett. Dr. Dorsett has been a pastor, church planter, denominational
leader and author in New England for more than 20 years. He is a
happy husband, a proud father and adoring grandfather. He is a
cancer survivor and believes that God works powerfully
through times of suffering. He writes extensively and you can find all of
his books at:
Indeed, ...until we as the Body of Christ are willing to not merely act like the Good Samaritan, but rather function as those who 'Go to the needy' and bring them into our lives out of Lovingkindness, we will only be seen as doing the ordinarily right. It is in the act of making friends of the dispossessed and unseemly as we personally care for their needs that we do the extraordinary.
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