“We Must”

Yesterday’s Spurgeon quote captured what I so often feel when I think of the magnitude of the need in the world. Today he continues with some encouragement from the interaction between Jesus and his disciples when he told them to feed the five thousand –

“Did we say, just now, we could not?  Surely we must recall our words and say, ‘We must.’  Good Master, we must!  …We feel our weakness, but there is an impulse within us that says we must do it, and we cannot stop, we dare not… No!  by the love we bear thy name; by the bonds that unite us to thee; by everything that is holy before God and humane in the sight of our fellow mortals; by everything that is tender and gentle in the throbbing of our hearts we say we must, though we feel we cannot… the Master said to you, ‘Give ye them to eat.’ ‘Ye.’  Let this church feel that it should look upon the world as if it were the only church, and do its utmost as if it had no helper under heaven, but had all the work to do itself… As Christ was the world’s hope, so is the church the world’s hope, and she must take up the charge as if there were not another. Instead of sending some to this town and some to that, she must hear her Master say, ‘Give ye them to eat.’…To stop your ears to the cries of the hungry, or shut your eyes to the wants of the widow and the fatherless, is not the way to relieve famine.  Nor is it the way of doing good in the world, to avoid the haunts of the poor, and to leave the dens of desolation and sin.  It is ours to touch the leper with our healing finger, not to shrink from his presence; it is ours to go and find out the stripped, and wounded, and helpless… Your Master asks of you, Christian, practical, personal service, and your Christianity is worth nothing unless it make you heed his word – ‘Give ye them to eat’ – unless it makes you as individual members, and as a united body do God’s work for the world’s sake and for Jesus Christ’s sake… As far as your power lies, you are to consider yourselves as the world’s hope, and you are to act as such.” – Spurgeon (emphasis mine)

Gary Haugen, Social Justice, and Orphans

WORLD Magazine has a great interview with Gary Haugen, President of International Justice Mission, a ministry dedicated to securing justice for victims of slavery, sexual exploitation and other forms of violent oppression. Here’s an excerpt:

Question: The term “social justice” is often used by the left. How can conservative Christians recapture that term without abandoning their political principles?

Haugen: We must return to the basics. The pursuit of a just society is a very fundamental biblical calling and has always been a bedrock commitment of thoughtful conservatism. We are not talking about nuanced social engineering projects. We are talking about protecting the most basic liberties of poor people made in the image of God—the right not to be raped, illegally detained, assaulted, dispossessed, and enslaved. This is still a great struggle and Christians are called in this generation to fight as they always have in history.

Read the entire interview here.

I am thankful that for many in the church today this conception of “social justice” is being renewed. I also see this particularly in the adoption and orphan care world as I meet more and more individuals and couples who see adoption and orphan care not merely as an option for growing their family but as a Biblical, social justice, missional, Christ-glorifying calling and command.

(HT: Alex Chediak)

Giving to a Local Church Adoption Ministry

Why give to a local church adoption ministry? Here’s part of Zach Nielsen’s answer to this important question:

When I write a check to my local church adopting family,
or to the church’s adoption fund, I know that I will get to observe and
perhaps participate in God-centered justice for the weak and voiceless
in a very personal way. There is a strong tie between relationships and
resources and our church is strengthened as we pursue justice in the
world TOGETHER.

Read the whole post.

“The social gospel has poisoned the church twice”

From Reformation 21:

Dr. Keller made the following provocative comment: ‘The social gospel has poisoned the church twice.’ The first time, of course, was when the social gospel was first introduced as a (theologically) liberal agenda that minimized the preaching of the gospel. But the social gospel is poisoning us again, Keller argued, because today evangelicals are so concerned about falling into the error of the old social gospel that we do not put nearly the emphasis that the Bible places on caring for the poor.

(HT: DashHouse)

Video: Chaos

This is a powerful video about the tragedies and chaos we witness around the world every day and the sovereignty of God –

Chaos by Igniter Media

(HT: David Leventhal)