Socialistic Welfare Is An Unbiblical Concept

I often see people on the Left side of the aisle use Jesus as a basis for state welfare. This always makes me laugh, as these same people are typically the ones who scream loudest about "separation of church and state" at the first public sign of Christianity by any elected official. It also makes me laugh because it reveals that while the person may know the name of Jesus, they do not know the Word of Jesus.

Yes, Jesus did tell the rich man in Mark 10:17-31 to go sell all he had, give the proceeds to the poor, and then follow Him. He said that to one individual, because He rightly saw that the rich man's trust and faith were in his wealth, not his God. Yes, He did say that this was common to those who had wealth, that they have trouble letting go of the material to take hold of the spiritual.

Yes, Jesus did indicate in Matthew 25:31-46 that He is very pleased with those who give food, water, shelter, care for the sick and imprisoned...that is, to those who are His brothers and sisters, especially "the least of these my brothers". He was speaking to individuals, not to governments.

Some might reply that our pooling resources as a local church body is no different than pooling our resources as a government. First, I would point out that church membership is, and always should be, voluntary. On top of that, giving to your church is up to you, your pastor doesn't take 10% of your check before you ever see it. Finally, Christians are instructed to practice charity, not welfare.

What is the difference, you ask? Simple. Charity is sharing your provisions with those who through no fault of their own do not have provisions. Or with those who have realized that their previous actions are wrong, and seek assistance to change. Welfare, however, is giving to anyone who asks, regardless of how they got into the situation, regardless of their repetition of this situation, or regardless of their admission or acknowledgement that their actions are producing bad results. For example, a single woman who has sexual relations outside of marriage and becomes pregnant, then realizes how her actions will have huge consequences for her life and for her child and asks for help to support her child and make better decisions is definitely someone worthy of Christian charity. But if this same woman comes back a year later in the same situation, charity requires that the situation be evaluated to determine how she repeated the wrong action and got back into the same situation. If she were to be assisted again, then the people assisting her would need to be much more diligent in helping her not only with monetary assistance, but also with personal guidance. And it should be stressed to her that if she were to repeat the action again, then there would be no further help for her. Welfare, however, continues to cut larger and larger checks to provide for her and her growing family. That is, as long as she doesn't marry any of the fathers. Because then, her State provided welfare would be cut off.

Still not convinced?  Do you remember Ruth? She came to the fields of Boaz to glean among the rows any of the harvest that was dropped or overlooked. As a matter of fact, the Law instructed Jews not to harvest to the full edges of their fields, and to allow the poor to glean. It did not, however, order them to fully harvest their field at their own expense and then give a percentage to the poor. The poor could have charity, but they had to work for their assistance.

Oh, but that's the Old Testament. Jesus did away with all that, right? Well, not actually. But consider Paul's instructions in 1 Timothy 5. Do not add any woman to the widow's roll who had family to provide for her, then, only if she was over the age of 60.

Or Paul's instructions in 2 Thessalonians 3:6-12, which says: 
6 Now we command you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, to keep away from every brother who walks irresponsibly and not according to the tradition received from us. 7 For you yourselves know how you must imitate us: We were not irresponsible among you; 8 we did not eat anyone’s food free of charge; instead, we labored and struggled, working night and day, so that we would not be a burden to any of you. 9 It is not that we don’t have the right to support, but we did it to make ourselves an example to you so that you would imitate us. 10 In fact, when we were with you, this is what we commanded you: “If anyone isn’t willing to work, he should not eat.” 11 For we hear that there are some among you who walk irresponsibly, not working at all, but interfering with the work of others.12 Now we command and exhort such people by the Lord Jesus Christ that quietly working, they may eat their own food. 13 Brothers, do not grow weary in doing good.

Christians are clearly, and repeatedly commanded, instructed, and ordered to help the needy, poor and less fortunate. To fellow Christians first, but also to those who might believe. Scripture repeatedly makes it clear that we are stewards of everything that God has given to us. Continuing to pay for people who misuse the assistance, come to expect it and eventually demand its continuance is not good stewardship. And being a bad steward is always condemned in Scripture.

All Pink Is Not Pure

As I write this, there are only a few days left in October, which is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. It seems that everywhere I look, I see someone wearing pink. Pink shoes. Pink shirts. Pink ribbons. Shirts with pink messages about breast cancer. October is the one month of the year that it is not only acceptable, but cool for macho He-Man types to wear pink.

But not all pink is pure.

One of the largest names in breast cancer fundraising is the Susan G. Komen foundation, often seen as Komen For The Cure or just SGK. Their name is practically synonymous with breast cancer.

However, they do not just raise money for breast cancer research. They also raise money for the purpose of providing free or low-cost mammograms to women who cannot afford them. I absolutely understand the reasoning for this, as early detection is key to lowering the mortality rate from breast cancer.

I do not, however, understand why their primary partner in this effort is Planned Parenthood (PP). PP offers a wide range of services, from true family planning to free contraceptives. That said, they are best known as the nation's largest abortion provider. Indeed, as of 2009, PP had performed 5.3 million abortions since the SCOTUS discovered a brand new "right" in 1973, the right to abort a pregnancy hidden in the right to privacy.

Let's set aside the possible link between breast cancer and miscarriages and/or abortions. Both sides have studies that prove their point, so let's take that off of the table.

SGK takes part of every dollar and gives it to PP. PP is supposed to take that money and use it exclusively for mammograms and breast exams. The fly in the ointment is this: there is a fancy word used to describe money, that word is "fungible". Basically, what it means is this: if you give PP a dollar, and they use a dollar to pay for an abortion, then your dollar might have paid for that abortion. Money goes in a big pot, and they pull out what they need to operate. So if you donate ANY money to SGK, PART of your money WILL be given to PP, and PART of that money WILL be used for providing abortions.

Let's make up an extreme example to clarify: What if the American Nazi Party announced a campaign of pink swastikas during October, and sold those for $5 for the purpose of raising money for their breast cancer medical research. Most people would immediately associate the American Nazi Party with the German Nazi Party, which killed over 6 million Jews, gypsies, homosexuals, Christians and other "undesirables" during WW2. No matter what good COULD come from the $5 donation, the entity trying to do the good has been judged (rightly so) to be an enemy of freedom and humanity. Thus, most reasonable rational people would choose to forgo any association.

I submit that as Christians, we have the same moral obligation to reject any association with SGK.

Sadly, the American Cancer Society also is partnered with Planned Parenthood as well.

Lest anyone suspect or accuse me of some kind of "war on women", my paternal grandmother was killed by breast cancer. I have three daughters who I pray are never touched by breast cancer. One of my favorite Bible verses is Proverbs 5:19. I HATE breast cancer. I HATE the destruction that it wreaks in the lives of women that I know and have known. 

But I cannot and will not ally with a demon to battle another demon. Support breast cancer awareness. Support breast cancer research. Support breast cancer victims. Just keep your hands clean while you do it.

All a matter of time

At the end of his recounting of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, John states that he is only recording a fraction of the things that Jesus did during the three and a half years that John walked with Him as an apostle.

"And there are also many other things which Jesus did, which if they were written in detail, I suppose that even the world itself would not contain the books that would be written." John 21:25

We might be tempted to simply attribute that statement to the sheer amount of time that John spent with Jesus. Based on the time frame of 3-1/2 years, that comes to:

42 months
180 weeks
1260 days
30,240 hours
1,814,400 minutes
108,864,000 seconds

That's a LOT of time! I can only imagine the number of people that Jesus met during that time. I can only guess how many meals He shared with the apostles and others. 

During His life, Jesus was fully God, while fully Man. He chose to be bound by the physical restraints of a human body. He could only be in one place, could only speak to one person at at time, could only do one thing at a time.

Now, He sits at the right hand of the Father, constantly making intercession for His saints.

Consider that for a moment...some surveys put the total number of Christians alive today at approximately 2.2 billion people. That number obviously includes people that identify as Christian, but have no personal relationship with Jesus. Taking half that number, Jesus was intimately aware of what happened to one billion people yesterday...adding that up, that means that He experienced:

24,000,000,000 hours yesterday
1,440,000,000,000 minutes yesterday
86,400,000,000,000 seconds yesterday

We couldn't record what Jesus did in one MINUTE yesterday!

Do recognize when God matures someone?

My family and I have been blessed to be members of a vibrant, growing, missional church for the past 16 years. During this time, we've seen many of our children's peers grow up to become missionaries and ministers in the Kingdom.

I sat and talked last night with one such man. He was an adolescent when I first met him, a typical teenager. He has since finished his BA and has his MDiv. As a matter of fact, he's teaching my NT Survey course at NOBTS's Mid-South Extension Center. During our discussion, we talked about hermeneutics and eschatology. As we talked about the variant camps of interpreting Revelation, I was struck by how much he had not only grown in knowledge, but God had matured him greatly. I had to mentally re-adjust my view of him a smidgen more, as the goofy teen had been replaced by a man of God.

The Bible records several instances of this happening:

Consider David, when he came to the battle front to check on his brothers. His older brothers scoffed at him and did not treat him with respect. Remember, though, at this point, David had already killed a lion AND a bear while defending Jesse's flocks.

What about Timothy? Lois and Eunice, who watched their grandson and son become a leader in the early church, had to accept him as such.

Then, remember how the people of Jesus' region received Him? "Isn't this the carpenter's son?" Luke 2:52 tells us how Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, but those around Him refused to see Him with clear eyes and to recognize Him for who He was, instead of who they viewed Him to be.

We must be careful to allow our views and opinions of those around us to grow and mature. The neighbor's idiot son could be the next Billy Graham or Adrian Rogers.

Even more so, we must continue to allow our view, opinion and understanding of Jesus to grow. He is not a good teacher. He is not a great man. He is God incarnate, the atoning sacrifice for those who confess and believe, and the grand example of how we should live in obedience to the Holy Spirit.

Two Birds With One Shot

I seem to have a gift for taking pieces of un-associated puzzles and fitting them together, and in that spirit, I offer the following:

The Obama administration demonizes guns at almost every chance. They don't like guns, they don't like citizens having guns, and don't like that we don't like them not liking us having guns. They have blocked the importation of several hundred thousand surplus M1 Carbines from South Korea that were used in the Korean War. They describe these guns as "military-grade", even though they were made 60 years ago, and haven't been in use for 40 years.

The Obama administration is also now hell-bent on getting us involved in the Syrian civil war. Setting aside the fact that most of the rebel groups are allied or associated with Al-Qaeda, they are Muslim extremists that are routinely massacring Christians and burning Christian churches.

However, how about this solution to both problems: We buy the surplus weapons from our (seriously) good friends and allies the South Koreans. We then donate those same "military-grade" weapons to the Syrian rebels for use. Tah-Dah! We've helped our allies and the rebels both! Plus, Obama won't have to worry about being (rightly) blamed for being anti-gun. Sorry, we can't import those guns anymore, we gave them to the Syrians!

Are you looking at Him?

The other night, my son cut his hand, so he and I spent several hours at the ER for his treatment. We watched TV, laughed and joked, and just generally had about as good a time as possible. Then came our turn for treatment. The doctor had to clean the wounds to prevent infection and sew up the damage.

But before he could do that, he needed to numb up my son's hand. When the doc pulled out a needle the size of a railroad spike, my son got very tense. When he started jabbing the needle in multiple places and injecting the anesthetic, my son tensed up even more and looked like he was going to bolt out of the room!

So I took his other hand in mine, turned his head to look toward me and made a show of breathing slowly and deeply. In only a few seconds, my son had relaxed, was looking only at me and was matching my breathing.

A common situation similar to this is during childbirth. The mother focuses on the father, who is speaking calmly to her, holding her hand and helping her focus on something besides the struggle in her life.

Peter knew a little about this type of situation. Jesus walks up to the boat, and Peter's mouth writes a check that he soon has to try to cash. Peter steps out of the boat, and walks toward Jesus...until Peter puts his attention on the storm, not the One who controls the storm. Peter sinks and cries out in desperation..until Jesus pulls Peter's focus back to HIM.

Our lives face these storms every day. Whether a cut hand, an arriving baby, a job loss or just a simple bad day at work...the storms will overwhelm us and distract us if we are not careful. Remember, our focus must always be on the One who has power over the storms. He will walk beside us and lead us through the storms! And we, as Christians, must make sure that we point those around us to Him too!

What IS Ministry?

I was having a conversation with @PartTime_YP the other day on Twitter. He commented that his pastor and church leadership basically viewed him as just a babysitter who had no experience doing "real ministry."

That got me to thinking about what would be the true definition OF ministry? Is it being able to preach? Is it being able to implement a multi-level strategy? Is it managing the staff of a church? Could it possibly be leading a choir, as in a Music Minister? Is ministry simply the obtainment of a seminary degree?

While considering this, I remembered a quote on leadership that @ToddAdkins shares frequently: When your people stop bringing you their problems, you've stopped leading them.

Based on my review of Scripture, here is the definition that I compiled for what ministry is:

MINISTRY

Walking side by side with another human being as they go through the struggles, trials and triumphs of life as you lovingly speak biblical truth to their situations while consistently pointing them to the bloody cross, the empty tomb and fulfilled hope of salvation through Jesus Christ and encouraging them to follow Him in spirit, word and deed.

IF this description of ministry is accurate, then ANYONE can do ministry. You know more about the Bible than SOMEONE around you. You most likely know more about the Bible than a LOT of people around you.

I would love to hear your thoughts, what do YOU believe is the definition of "ministry"?