She Said, “That’s What Churches are For”
Categories: Church of Christ Bulletin ArticlesA local newscaster, some time back, was lamenting the fact that many needs that people have are not being met. She pointed out that civil authorities are taxed to the limit, and that those agencies who operate to relieve those on the streets are also working to their limits. She was trying to express that there were other avenues, and she mentioned “the churches,” and said, “After all, that’s what churches are for!”
Indeed, there are some few religious systems that have such benevolent aid as a regular, and even a major, part of their work. They are plainly advertised as such. But someone just here needs to be informed that the church that Jesus built was not given the task of going into all the world, feeding everybody, clothing everybody, housing everybody. The church that Jesus built is a TEACHING institution (John 6:44-45), and that which is to be taught is the gospel of the Christ (Mark 16:15, 16). That Word is to be preached to the whole world, as we’ve noted, and every child of God is to be taught to live by what that Word demands. Along the way, there will be benevolent works to arise that involve the needs of the brethren, and the saints demonstrate their pure and undefiled religion in meeting those needs (James 1:27). Also along the way, there will be some occasional aid to be rendered to one, even though he is not a child of God (Gal. 6:10), but the benevolence is never the major work of the church. The church can never be a social project for the community. The newscaster was NOT speaking of Jesus’ church when she said, “That’s what churches are for!”
THE SOUTHWESTERNER, June 7, 1989