The Commentary

For some years now evangelicals have been renewing their response to the needs of the homeless, the disabled and the poor. This is absolutely right and as it should be.

However, there are a number of subtle dangers involved of which we need to be aware, which can draw us away from the biblical gospel.

The first danger became apparent when I was asked recently to go and take weekly prayers for a Christian organisation in our town which does a lot of good work among young people in need. I decided to incorporate a few minutes into the time discussing some of the differences between life lived according to the gospel and ‘religion’. In religion we obey to be accepted, in the gospel we obey because we are already accepted by faith in Christ, etc. Some who chipped in were very much at home with this, but others looked distinctly uncomfortable. It seemed I was talking to some people who were religious rather than regenerate. Then it occurred to me. Of course, Christian organisations which major on social work are bound to attract those who see ‘good works’ as a contribution to their salvation. And in today’s climate where everything needs to be done ‘professionally’, the organisation might well be more concerned to employ people with the right professional qualifications than those who love the gospel.

Deceptive calls

The second danger came onto my radar screen as I was reading Mildred Cable’s great missionary book, The Gobi Desert, about her experiences with Francesca French as they sought to take the gospel to the nomadic peoples of that wilderness during the 1920s and 30s. She writes of sounds (demon voices, said the locals) which call from the sand mounds. ‘They call out just as a man would shout if he wanted help, but those who turn away from the track to answer them never find anyone, the next call is always a little further from the true path, for those voices will lead a man on, but they will never call him back to the right way.’ We must help the needy. But their calls for help can, because they are sinners like us all, deceive us. Those whose lives have been messed up by poverty or abuse, may not want to hear of their need for Jesus who saves us from hell. They might feel that the very mention of such things to them is unkind. Motivated by compassion we might be led to be quiet on such points in order to please them. But then, like Mildred Cable’s desert sounds, we can be led further and further away from what the Scriptures teach. It takes Holy Spirit wisdom to hold on to both a compassionate heart and biblical truth. But it is possible. The Lord Jesus, who was so moved by the needy, was also the One who spoke most frequently of judgement (John 5.14).

The third danger has been noted by others many times, but needs reiterating. I was speaking at a conference for a number of evangelists and their supporters recently. It was a great time of fellowship and joy. But as the evangelists shared what had been going on in their work and their vision for the future, it was very obvious how many of them are impeded from doing all they would like to do for the Lord by lack of funds. Of course we want to support Christian social work with our money. But let us not do that to the detriment of supporting direct gospel work. When Jesus healed the paralysed man, he said to him: ‘Son your sins are forgiven’ (Mark 2.5). In the light of eternity what meant most to the man, his healing or his salvation?

Social work?

Deceptive calls

John Benton

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