I was hungry,
and you formed a humanities group to discuss my hunger.
I was imprisoned,
and you crept off quietly to your chapel and prayed for my release.
I was naked,
and in your mind you debated the morality of my appearance.
I was sick,
and you knelt and thanked God for your health.
I was homeless,
and you preached to me of the spiritual shelter of the love of God.
I was lonely,
and you left me alone to pray for me.
You seem so holy, so close to God
but I am still very hungry – and lonely – and cold.
I read this in John Stott’s ‘Issues Facing Christians Today’. This poem was written by a homeless woman to a country vicar whose response to her appeal for help was a promise to pray for her. I felt it was borderline hypocrisy, this vicar. Then I thought, “I’m just like him!”
It is a major concern among us Christians today that many of us do not bother about our social responsibilities. Sure we’re very much involved in evangelism. We see eternity as far more important than our physical world right now. Good. But if that means neglecting our social responsibilities as Christians then I think we’ve gone off-balanced! Maybe, evangelism and social responsibility goes hand in hand. Maybe, our idea of missions (and missionary identity) ought to be stretched.
When confronted with the thought of social engagement, it would seem that what many of us do best now is to hide behind a façade of Christian ‘holiness’, hoping we wouldn’t have to get our hands dirty. Hoping a prayer or something will help solve the problem. And if the problem persists, we convince ourselves we have done everything we could. It’s like sweeping things under the carpet so it looks as if we’ve dealt with it, when really we’re just fooling ourselves.
Dear friends, do you think you’ll get anywhere in this if you learn all the right words but never do anything? Does merely talking about faith indicate that a person really has it? For instance, you come upon an old friend dressed in rags and half-starved and say, “Good morning, friend! Be clothed in Christ! Be filled with the Holy Spirit!” and walk off without providing so much as a coat or a cup of soup – where does that get you? Isn’t it obvious that God-talk without God-acts is outrageous nonsense?
James 2:14-17 (The Message)
Come and share, how did we become, as someone put it, so ‘heavenly minded to be of no earthly use’? How have we swept the social problems around us under the spick and span carpet of, apparently, our Christianity? And if you are currently engaged in social issues, come and share with us that too.
and you formed a humanities group to discuss my hunger.
I was imprisoned,
and you crept off quietly to your chapel and prayed for my release.
I was naked,
and in your mind you debated the morality of my appearance.
I was sick,
and you knelt and thanked God for your health.
I was homeless,
and you preached to me of the spiritual shelter of the love of God.
I was lonely,
and you left me alone to pray for me.
You seem so holy, so close to God
but I am still very hungry – and lonely – and cold.
I read this in John Stott’s ‘Issues Facing Christians Today’. This poem was written by a homeless woman to a country vicar whose response to her appeal for help was a promise to pray for her. I felt it was borderline hypocrisy, this vicar. Then I thought, “I’m just like him!”
It is a major concern among us Christians today that many of us do not bother about our social responsibilities. Sure we’re very much involved in evangelism. We see eternity as far more important than our physical world right now. Good. But if that means neglecting our social responsibilities as Christians then I think we’ve gone off-balanced! Maybe, evangelism and social responsibility goes hand in hand. Maybe, our idea of missions (and missionary identity) ought to be stretched.
When confronted with the thought of social engagement, it would seem that what many of us do best now is to hide behind a façade of Christian ‘holiness’, hoping we wouldn’t have to get our hands dirty. Hoping a prayer or something will help solve the problem. And if the problem persists, we convince ourselves we have done everything we could. It’s like sweeping things under the carpet so it looks as if we’ve dealt with it, when really we’re just fooling ourselves.
Dear friends, do you think you’ll get anywhere in this if you learn all the right words but never do anything? Does merely talking about faith indicate that a person really has it? For instance, you come upon an old friend dressed in rags and half-starved and say, “Good morning, friend! Be clothed in Christ! Be filled with the Holy Spirit!” and walk off without providing so much as a coat or a cup of soup – where does that get you? Isn’t it obvious that God-talk without God-acts is outrageous nonsense?
James 2:14-17 (The Message)
Come and share, how did we become, as someone put it, so ‘heavenly minded to be of no earthly use’? How have we swept the social problems around us under the spick and span carpet of, apparently, our Christianity? And if you are currently engaged in social issues, come and share with us that too.
