John Piper on “Prosperity Gospel”

Transcript:

I don’t know what you feel about the prosperty gospel; the health, wealth, and prosperity gospel. But I’ll tell you what I feel about it; hatred.

It is not the gospel. It is being exported from this country to Africa and Asia. Selling a bill of goods to the poorest of the poor, “Believe this message, your pigs won’t die. Your wife won’t have miscarriages. You’ll have rings on your fingers and coats on your back.” That’s comin’ out of America!

The people that out to be giving our money and our time and our lives, instead selling them a bunch of crap called “gospel.” And here’s the reason that it is so horrible. When was the last time that any American, African, Asian ever said, “Jesus is all-satisfying because you drove a BMW?” Never!

They’ll say, “Did Jesus give you that?” Yeah, “Well I’ll take Jesus!” That’s idolatry, that’s not the gospel. That’s elevating gifts above giver.

I’ll tell you what makes Jesus look beautiful. It’s when you smash your car and your little girl goes flying through the windshield and lands, like I was with a little girl on 11th Ave two weeks ago; dead on the street for three hours before the police could let her go. And you say, through the deepest possible pain…

“God is enough, God is enough.”

“He is good. He will take care of us. He will satisfy us. He will get us through this. He is our treasure”

“Whom have I in heaven but you? And on Earth there is nothing that I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart and my little girl may fail, but you are the strength of my heart and my portion forever.”

THAT makes God look glorious, as GOD, not as giver of cars or safety or health.

Oh how I pray that Birmingham would be purged of the health, wealth, and prosperity gospel, indeed America would be purged and that the Christian church…would be marked by suffering for Christ.

God is most glorified in you when you are most satisfied in Him in the midst of loss, not prosperity.

So here you have it, 10 Ways to Insult and Disrespect Churchgoers:

1. Imply I’m Stupid : So far I’ve kept from writing about the foolishness of church signs. However, there is one local example I want to share. “Pastor Ken Doesn’t Use Big Words Like Mayonnaise So I Can Understand“. Everyone I’ve mentioned this sign to, both Christian and pagan, found it insulting. Dear pastors, just a tidbit of advice; insulting people’s intelligence is a very poor evangelism technique. Unless of course your goal is an ignorant congregation with a shallow theology, who doesn’t understand words like propitiation or Christology or mayonnaise. In which case, nevermind.
2. Demean Singlehood : I know, single Christian church-going men are a rare breed. Being a relatively young one, who intends to marry, have a whole soccer team of kids and a wife unburdened by a job means surely somewhere there is an endangered species poster with my picture on it. When I tell you I’m single, please stop saying things like “oh I’m sorry to hear that” or “we’ll have to change that.” Please, search the Word on singlehood, listen to what Paul Matthies has to say and stop trying to be Chuck Woolery.
3. Slander Other Churches : It really does amaze me how often a pastor I just met will name and completely slander another church. If you spoke to me out of love and laid out scripturally your concerns, I’d be eager to hear you out. However, it always seems to be the bigger, more contemporary church you rail against. That or just any and every church outside of your denomination. It’s bad leadership, it’s divisive, and you come across petty & angry.
4. Disrespect My Boundaries : Let me set the scene for a moment; I’m a first-time visitor, I’m a guy, I have 20 other things I could be doing. What this means to you; I don’t really know any of you, so I’m a bit suspicious of all of you, a solid hand-shake is the only necessary and acceptable form of greeting, any reason to not be here is reason enough. This ludicrous forced meet and greet thing that churches have decided is necessary, isn’t. In fact it’s awkward and annoying. Additionally, if at any point you tell me to hug someone or hold someone’s hand, I’m probably leaving and never coming back.
5. Attack Our City : I love my city. God chose for me to be here. Unless He says otherwise, I have no plans to go anywhere. In fact I already have a burial plot here. By the way, it’s your city too. It should be out of love for this city and its residents that your heart breaks and gets you out of bed in the morning. If you hate it, its residents, and its culture as much as you say, you are in the wrong place at the wrong time. Seriously man, you missed a turn somewhere.
6. Belittle My Depravity : I’m a mess. But more than that I’m depraved. In fact I’m so depraved I don’t even know how depraved I am, because in my depravity I think I’m doing okay on my own apart from God. So when you’re talking to me about how to get my life right, it would be great if you didn’t morph into Tony Robbins, give me 5 easy steps to a better life and tell me I just need to try harder. I’m pretty sure the whole point is that no matter how hard I try, I can’t make it happen on my own. So take my sin seriously, tell me about Jesus and what it means to be alive in Him. Because that would be awesome.
7. Try and Guilt Me : Say it with me…”God loves a cheerful giver.” If every week you have to “lay down the law” and use compulsion to fill the coffers or the volunteer sign-up sheet, there are deeper issues at play. Tell me about Godly finances, I really want to know; but not when you are doing a building campaign and need to work me over. Please teach me about true Christian community and doing for one another. Just not when you feel under pressure and have to buckshot it to the whole room hoping you’ll bag a new volunteer.
8. Pretend You’re Perfect : Not only am I a mess, but you’re also a mess. Yes you are. SERIOUSLY, you are. One of the most needed characteristics of a pastor is transparency and humility. I’m not saying share everything, but if you are more concerned with people knowing you sin, than setting the example of how you’re broken by sin or your story of continual repentance, than you’re too fearful for anyone’s good. If nothing else, do it for your wife. She is probably being crushed under the expectation of perfection that is presented from the pulpit. She’ll thank you and your congregation will be better off.
9. Lie To Me Some More : Yes, this was on the first list, but it’s worth revisiting because it’s so prevalent. I continue to discover instances where pastors are simply lying to me about their church. Honestly I think they are lying to themselves as well. Perhaps they really do think their church is outward-focused. Maybe they are blind to the discontinuity of teaching something counter to their own statement of faith. Do they not think when they tell me their weekend attendance is 100 and I show up and it’s 30, that I won’t notice? I know, it’s tough out there guys. But lying to newcomers is definitely high on the list of ways to not grow a church.
10. Steer Me Towards Hell : I’ve saved the worst for last; two words, “False Teaching.” This isn’t the typical doctrinal disputes I’m talking about, but freaky counter-biblical stuff. Things like how someone in one part of a room can receive healing, but not someone on the other side, because the first guy was standing in the angel portal that gave him a healing connection to heaven. Oh it gets worse…Did you know it’s called the “second coming” because ever since Jesus ascended he has been traveling from Heaven, on the other side of the universe, through space “coming” towards Earth? Those are extremes, but frequently I’ve heard how it’s all about me. Oh, the name of Jesus is tossed about occasionally, but no, it’s all about me. It’s about me having an easy suburban life, singing erotic love songs to Jesus, and staying as far away as I can from non-christians cause they’re worldy. Unless they’re in Africa; they’re too poor to be worldy. Otherwise, it’s all me…me, me, me. So..teaching me a false gospel..worst..insult..ever.

Drop a comment and let me know what you think.

Paul Washer on False Hope

Transcript:

I am going to preach a message tonight that has angered many many church men.

It seems we would rather hold on to a false hope, than to hear the truth.

I hear people all over the world, especially in this county tell me that they’re saved and I ask them, how do they know that they’re saved. Well, because they believe. How do you know that you believe? “Well I know in my heart of hearts that I am saved. ” The bible says that the heart is deceitfully wicked. Do you really want to trust a heart that can be wicked?

Examine yourselves. Take the word of God and what the word of God says about a true Christian and if you fall short of the test..repent and believe.

One of the greatest evidences a person is truly a child of God is that they will be sensitive to the sin in their life and they will be led to repentance and confession of that sin. If you don’t have a new relationship with sin, you don’t have a new relationship with God. Let me ask you a question; when was the last time you wept over your sin? We’re not talking about whether or not you need to rededicate your life or not. We’re talking about whether or not you need to get saved.

Do you tremble at His word or do you look for loopholes around it?

Here stands God on the day of creation, He looks at stars and He says, “All you stars, move yourself to this place and start in this order and move in a circle and move exactly as I tell you until I give you another word” and they all obey Him. “Planets pick yourself up and whirl. Make this formation at my command, until I give you another word.” He looks at mountains and says, “Be lifted up” and they obey Him. He tells valleys, “Be cast down” and they obey Him. He looks at the sea and says, “You will come this far” and the sea obeys. And then He looks at you and says “Come” and you go “NO!”

Does anybody have a problem with that?

The greatest evidence that you’re a Christian is the fact that right now you’re in the word and God’s pointing out to you your sin. We have assurance that we have come to know Him, not just because one time we repented, but we are continuing to repent today. And it is not just that at one time we believe, but that we are continuing to believe today. And it is not just that one time we walked with Him; we continue to walk with Him today.

One of the signs of a Christian is that they are not entrapped or enslaved to the things of this present evil age, but they are set free to see Christ in His glory and follow Him and follow hard after Him.

How do you know that you believe?

Regrettably, I think at different times I’ve been guilty of every single item on this list. Are you holding back community?

Here’s the first five…

1. Keep Conversations Short
2. Always sit in your “assigned” seat
3. Avoid New People
4. Come in Late
5. Leave immediately after the service (or early)

See the rest of the list and Adam’s commentary at 10 Ways to Avoid Building Community Within the Church .

I want to let you in on a little secret; I’m a sinner. I know, you’re shocked. It indeed pains me to shatter your pristine perception of me, but it’s true. I sin frequently; daily; probably hourly. Most days I break the law by speeding. I curse too much and pray too little. I too often neglect my health and my neighbor. There is unforgiveness in my heart for past wrongs. I am prideful of my intellect and covetous of others’ athleticism. Technology is too often an idol and I struggle to be a good steward of God’s finances in my life. I’m simultaneously liberal and legalistic. Hopefully I haven’t scared you off, as I just wanted to be a bit transparent before I dive into the heart of the matter.

People are messy and ministry is messy. To my next pastor, I’m already praying for you, cause I got issues.

Dear Christian: We Love You Conditionally

In the past few days, I’ve sat down with two different pastors to learn about their churches. Each time we came around to what makes a church “family”. For me, it boils down to one thing: unconditional love. Not fluffy, huggy, plastic smiles and “I’m fine” fake love. But more of a “let me hold your hair while you vomit” kind of love. A love that is solid and can be counted on. A love that can comfort and a love that will discipline when necessary.

All my mentioned messiness above is just a portion of that which is unspoken. My youthful past and pre-christian adulthood are even worse. Twenty-five years of running away, debauchery and a general disregard for consequence. But throughout all of it, I knew who my family was, where home was, and that they and it were always welcoming to me. Their love comforted and disciplined.

We so often use the term “church home” and “christian family” yet most people in most churches are strangers to one another. I honestly believe that most church-goers don’t desire to know one another. At least not the true person. The pristine veneer, sure. The sinner, absolutely not. Because they too are a sinner and they fear their fellow churchgoer would shun them if their sin was revealed, just as they shun others. Sadly, that is often the case.

Even beyond our current sin, it’s amazed me how often one is shunned for past sin. God has done an amazing work drawing me out of the unrepentant lifestyle I used to live and I am humbled to share my testimony with people that it may somehow glorify Him. But many Christians I’ve met recoil when they hear it. Not because they hate hearing about sin, but rather because someone in their midst lived that kind of life. Suddenly I am under suspicion for the life I used to lead, before I was reworked by God. If the church can’t love someone who has been cleansed by God’s grace, how can they love someone who hasn’t?

Dear Seeker: Get Clean, Then Visit

Men smarter and more eloquent than I have written volumes on loving, reaching and serving those that don’t know Christ. Libraries are filled with books on evangelical methodologies and programs. We have Romans Road and the Evangecube, but we too often lack mercy.

Five years ago I hated the homeless and I could spend 30 minutes enumerating the reasons. Along with the homeless, we can add alcoholics, drug-users, and the lowest-income groups. Then I started going to church where I was told to love them. Well, at least act like I love them so they will want to know Jesus and clean up their life. It took Jesus wrecking and rebuilding my heart for me to actually learn to love them, without motive. God placed me in leadership with a homeless ministry and the object of my hatred became that of my mercy and love.

Of course the financially least among us are often the easiest to show mercy towards. It seems so much harder when it’s the rich flamboyant gay neighbor or the middle-class mother with 3 kids by 3 dads who changes boyfriends seasonally. When’s the last time they got invited to your backyard cookout?

I shudder to think of the pain the church inflicts as it looks down it’s long pious nose, expecting our neighbors to change first and be loved by us second. If our love is genuine and active, oh how the light will shine.

1. Pursue me : Being pursued by a church can be either helpful or scary. The helpful form is for a church to be responsive and to make a genuine effort to connect. The scary form of pursuit is when it turns into stalking. Churches will spend thousands of dollars to send a missionary around the world or for a local marketing campaign, but don’t return an email from a seeker or follow-up with an attender who’s absent from activities. If someone shows interest in Christ and the church, go after them. If someone is already part of your church, don’t let them fall to the wayside.
2. Take me out to eat : An excellent idea if I ever heard one. Both pastors I met with in the last week offered to buy me lunch. I took one of them up on it. A good conversation over the breaking of bread is a lost art. At minimum in my last church anyone that requested info we’d offer to take out for coffee.
3. Ask about my story and show genuine interest : The few pastors I’ve met recently have done a pretty decent job of wanting to know my story, at least as it related to my church background. What was missing was a genuine interest in my whole story, not just the part that applied to their context.
4. Find out how I’m really doing and pray for me : “I’m good” is the most frequent lie out of people’s mouths, especially on Sundays. Search your heart; do you really care how someone is doing? Are you prepared if instead of “things are good” someone says “my life is falling apart”? Don’t let me get away with “I’m fine”. If I share a prayer need, pray for me right then and there. Ask me to do the same for you.
5. Show interest in my hobbies : Knowing how someone chooses to spend their free time can be immensely useful. Is their hobby something others in the church share that would allow for connections to develop? People tend to exercise skills in hobbies they may not otherwise get to use. Those skills can likely also benefit the church.  You don’t know if you don’t ask.
6. Help me get involved and see that I do : As someone who started volunteering at age 11, I frequently lament to my friends the difficulty in getting involved. Most churches or non-profits I’ve contacted, who are begging for volunteers, absolutely drop the ball on getting me connected. Having managed volunteers in a couple different organizations, this is indeed a continuing struggle. People do want to make a difference, make it easy for them to do so.
7. Seek my input : After I attended church on Sunday the pastor took me out for lunch and asked me to tell him everything I’d change about his church if I had a year to recreate it into an outward-focused church. Now I’m not suggesting you ask that question of all your visitors. It was a bold and humble step for this man who is working hard to revitalize a small waning church. However, you can provide a culture where people in the church are comfortable providing input on how church is “done” and how the city is being reached. If you do so, I assure you that you’ll reap positive results.
8. Invite me to hang out with your friends : This suggestion by Andy stood out to me above all others. One of the many buzzwords in the church is “relationship”. One of the most lacking things in churches today is relationship. Life is best lived in community and one cannot be sharpened or sharpen another in isolation. Don’t just send someone off to a connection class, invite them into your life.
9. Tell me your story and how God transforms : As much as I love to share my story and testimony, I also want to hear yours. Knowing how God has transformed your life gives me hope about how he can transform mine. It is very easy to insulate oneself in leadership from sharing. But having a two-way dialog is the difference between friendship and counseling.
10. When I’m sick, check up on me : Most people I hang out with (guys 20-35) aren’t going to take you up on an offer of assistance if they are sick. Still I call just to make sure they are alive and see if they need anything. Being sick is no fun and it’s even worse when no one seems to care. Just whatever you do, don’t offer assistance that you aren’t sincerely and happily willing to provide.

All of these together boil down to one simple message: Show That You Care.

• It doesn’t tell them much about the regular pastor
• The service flow and timing can be quite different than normal
• There may also be a guest worship team
• The visit may not benefit them in determining much about the church

The bottom line is that visitors usually need to attend a 2nd week to really learn anything useful about what a normal Sunday is like. Most people just won’t even bother to try again; first impressions and all that.

However, I believe that guest speakers can be very beneficial for church visitors (and even regular attenders). They have certainly been helpful to me. This past week, for the 2nd time in as many years, I walked out on a church service because of the guest speaker. Each time I was a relatively new visitor to the church. Both times were my last visit to that church. These speakers saved me a lot of time. Here’s why…

Guest Speakers Often Express Leadership’s Unspoken Beliefs

Most churches don’t dictate to their guest speakers what they can or cannot talk about. But leaders usually have a pretty good idea what the guest speaker will discuss. By inviting a particular speaker and allowing them to speak freely, the church is sanctioning the teaching taking place from their pulpit. This has been key for me. In both instances mentioned above, the guest speaker dished out ridiculous counter-biblical teaching to the congregation that I had not heard a pastor or elder previously mention. For as long as I could, I stayed, stomach churning, waiting for a pastor/elder to step up and end the heresy that was being spewed forth. Both times, the leadership did nothing, except clap and encourage them on. This quickly confirmed for me I would not be attending that church again.

Friends have said “but it wasn’t the pastor”, “you can’t judge them by a guest speaker”, “what were they suppose to do about it”. However, on both occasions eldership was present, encouraging the teachings. If they did in fact not condone the teaching and instead believe as I did, that the speaker was feeding poison to the sheep, then by their inaction they were complicit in that poisoning and grossly delinquent in the responsibility God has given them for that congregation. Either way, it was not a church whose authority I was willing to be under.

So what should a leader do if his guest speaker is doing violence to the scripture in his church? End It! It doesn’t have to be a production, he just needs to simply walk up to the speaker, thank them for their time and take over the teaching. I’ve never seen it happen, but have heard of a few situations where responsible pastors have done just that.

Let us not overreact

Of course, not every word out of a guest speaker’s mouth is accepted by the local church as “the way”. Nor should we go overboard and not allow guest speakers. Guest speakers can be quite beneficial in providing unique perspectives and bringing needed relief to a teaching pastor’s schedule. Talking about non-essential differences in ministry and method are not cause for calamity. The issue arises exclusively when a guest speaker teaches falsehood. For we must “contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints” and not allow anyone to teach different doctrine within the church.

This latest situation just further reinforces for me the absolute necessity of diligence in determining a local church’s doctrine and ministry practices. I am so thankful to God for these two occasions because it brought awareness to me about hidden beliefs within each church and likely saved me from weeks of ignorant and harmful attendance.

So if your church’s goal is to make it painfully difficult to be discovered by new people, here are 10 real ways I’ve experienced that churches keep from being discovered:

1. Don’t have a website : This is the information age, even 107 year old women have blogs, but not your church. No church website, no blog, no flickr account, and don’t podcast your sermons. Knowledge is power and providing me easy access to information about your church might empower me to learn more or even visit. So even if you must have a website, make sure it is poorly designed, lacking in information, hard to navigate, out of date and doesn’t have an rss feed to make things even remotely easy for me.
2. Be completely inactive in the community : If you’re not doing anything in the community then no one will talk about your church. That makes it a lot harder for me to accidentally find out anything useful. So don’t serve the community or partner with other churches or non-profits. In fact it’s really just best if you stay completely inward-focused and don’t do anything missional in your city.
3. Don’t answer your phone : Regardless of what time I call (weekday, weekend, morning, afternoon, evening) don’t answer the phone and don’t have an answering machine or voice mail for me to leave a message or prayer request. If you do have voice mail, don’t include your website address, service times or directions to your church on your message, and don’t ever answer the phone on Sunday mornings. That way when I’m lost en route to service, I’ll have no choice but to drive around aimlessly until I give up and go home.
4. Allow misinformation : Sometimes you just can’t prevent denominations or directories from listing information about your church. When contact information changes, don’t tell them about the update. You can save time by providing them incorrect information initially and for added confusion make sure each directory lists different information about your church, all of it wrong.
5. Lack clear signage : Even if I’m determined to visit your church, you have several on site options to discourage me. The first is to play hide and seek. Is your church in a nondescript building or on a street with several other churches? Have absolutely no signage; none, whatsoever. Except maybe on the mailbox, where you abbreviate things beyond comprehension. If you run a Christian school, put up a 10′ x 14′ sign just for it, so I’ll be led to believe the building is only a school.
6. Have insufficient parking/seating : Other discouraging on-site options are lack of adequate parking and seating. Does your church seat 200? Only have 30 parking spaces. Been running at capacity for weeks or months? Don’t start another service, so that there will be standing room only. Have visitors’ parking? Put it in the corner of the lot away from the entrance. Have adequate parking? Don’t stripe the lot or have parking attendants; chaos is best. Have adequate seating? Make it as uncomfortable as possible.
7. Ignore Visitors : Despite your best efforts I have found and attended your church. In fact, I even filled out a visitor’s card requesting more information. Don’t acknowledge my visit in any way. Don’t call me, don’t send me a thank you card, don’t answer any of my questions or give me any information about how to become involved or learn more about Jesus. Also don’t have any literature available to provide visitors and don’t train your volunteers to be courteous or helpful in anyway.
8. Respond half-heartedly to inquiries : If responding to information requests at all, do so extremely slowly and only partially. Wait 1 week or more to return emails or phone calls and if I ask several questions, don’t answer them all. Instead just tell me I should come to a service to find out more. That saves you a couple minutes of response time and makes you look very busy and important. Whatever you do, do not start a dialogue with me.
9. Be evasive about your beliefs : When I ask a direct question about the church’s beliefs, ignore the question or act like you don’t understand and then start telling me about your denomination or church programs. For “What We Believe”, only include the Nicene Creed on your website or literature. If I’m adamant about wanting positional clarity, instead tell me about the love of Jesus and how Christianity isn’t about division. For those times you do answer my questions, act offended that I would even ask, then try and make me feel stupid or sinful for questioning you.
10. Lie to me : When all else fails, simply lie to me about your church. You might just get a few weeks of attendance out of me before I learn the truth. Are you denominationally affiliated? Don’t mention it ever and talk about how independent you are when I find out. Being on mission is important to me, so make it sound like all 500 of your members are actively involved in serving the city, even though you don’t give a single cent to local missions and never talk about it from the pulpit, because you actually hate the city and it’s sinful people. Lastly, spend a lot of time telling me how you are distinctive from other churches, even though you’re not.

There are certainly other ways to keep me from discovering your church, but these have proven quite effective over recent weeks. I assure you, that if you implement these 10 things, you will manage to keep just about everyone from finding or connecting with your church.

Do you know of other ways that churches keep people at bay? Share it in the comments.

Update 03/20/07: See a follow-up response @ “10 Ways to Draw Me to Your Church“.

“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.‘

“Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

“The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’

Jesus goes on to tell the “righteous” who call him “Lord“, but do none of these things, they “are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.” Up until recently the thing that was most striking to me about this story was that the cursed proclaimed Jesus as Lord. They are even called “the righteous”. We see this clearly explained to us in James 2 and the mantra that “faith without works is dead“.

But what may be even more striking is the personal nature of the mandate. “YOU gave me something to eat..YOU gave me something to drink…YOU invited me in…YOU clothed me…YOU looked after me..YOU came to visit me.” As Jesus looks upon the peoples of all nations separated to His right and left, He tells those on His right “YOU” did these things I have commanded and here is “YOUR” reward. I’ve never really doubted the personal nature of the command; that each of us is to do these things. But how? Honestly God? Each of us is to visit people in prison? Each of us is to nurse the sick? Can’t I just donate money to someone somewhere to do these things? Isn’t feeding the hungry and nursing the sick the job of welfare and Medicaid? It’s my tax dollars paying for it. So I’m good right?

In his book Irresistable Revolution, Shane Claiborne writes:

I’m just not convinced that Jesus is going to say, “When I was hungry, you gave a check to the United Way and they fed me,” or, “When I was naked, you donated clothes to the Salvation Army and they clothed me.” Jesus is not seeking distant acts of charity. He seeks concrete acts of love: “you fed me, you visited me, you welcomed me, you clothed me.

Nor am I convinced He is going to say to me, “When I was hungry, you organized a food drive and collected canned goods and non-perishables, donated by people who paradoxically proclaim my name, yet shunned me on the street, then you gave those to the regional food pantry to redistrubute to organizations that programatically and dispassionately fed me. Way to go, here’s your inheritence.”

There is more likelihood of me hearing, “When I was hungry, there was a time when you fed me, you welcomed and encouraged me, sat with me, prayed with me and hugged me as a brother, but then you changed. You grew distant. Even though you knew where to find me, you did not come. Suddenly it had become too inconvenient and uncomfortable. From a distance you donated out of your abundance. You spoke diplomatically and proudly about how you were making a difference in the lives of ‘the poor.’ You developed programs and implemented practices that assured a safe barrier from having to personally and radicaly love and serve me. You chose observation over obedience and detachment over devotion.”

I honestly don’t know if the mandate is for every Christ-follower to do each of these things. Perhaps the intention is that as a community, as one body, these things are being attended to in a personal and compassionate way. That there is a unified purpose and servanthood. We know that some are called towards certain areas and away from others. The apostles recognized it wasn’t right for them to wait tables, because they knew it would neglect their ministry duty. But within their community they made certain it was done. The body was united and fulfilling it’s purpose in Christ. They were never detached from the real needs of people or distant from seeing them met.

Even though I have never been without a home and a bed to sleep in, there was a time when I knew poverty and hunger and the guilt and desperation of having to steal to eat. There was a time not so long ago, where God broke through my snobbery and comfort to bring me into friendship and closeness with the homeless, the afflicted, with prostitutes and drunkards. It was during this time, after my heart had warmed, that my eyes were opened to the truth of my own absent earthly father and his last years filled with homelessness and alcoholism. Then I disconnected into that distant and diplomatic place. Into a mindset where the “least of these” are a demographic inconvenience best “dealt with” from afar.

Elsewhere I read someone lamenting about how the rich drop off things they don’t need to be sorted and given to needy individuals who feel entitled to them. Neither ever coming in contact with one another; neither ever being transformed. Each walking away with a sense of pride for what they have done or what they have received.

Most of us feel a warm fuzzy when we pull our cars up to the convenient and overflowing Salvation Army dumpster at K-Mart, depositing our ill-fitting and out-of-fashion clothes. We silently praise ourselves when we write that bigger-than-normal check to that distant charity helping those kids somewhere, because we really feel the pain and sacrifice of having to wait until next month to get that new gadget.

Are these types of giving in themselves wrong? Yes, if we are fooling ourselves that they are all that is necessary. Jesus, during his time in flesh having nowhere himself to rest his head, requires more of us. He requires “concrete acts of love” that are engaging and personal. If we are already living out Matthew 25 locally, daily, and relationally, then by all means let us send support elsewhere and in every way. If we are not, then we stand on the left, confused goats proclaiming with our mouths and forsaking through our inaction.

While dining out the other night with my friend Frank, the two tables next to us were both occupied by a mother and a child. The table nearest to us, the mother was gabbing on her mobile phone the entire time. The young boy, probably 7, ate quietly, staring up at the TV on the wall. At the other table, a mother sat reading a newspaper, while the young girl, probably 8 or 9, ate quietly, staring up at the TV on the wall.

The mother on the phone was quite loud, rather animated and I could hear the entirety of her half of the conversation with a girlfriend, about the girlfriend’s boyfriend. The old Joshua would have been extremely annoyed. Honestly, my thought process would have been something like “ugh, I wish that heifer would just shut the hell up and stop disrupting my dinner, I can’t even carry a conversation because of her shrill tone poisoning my thoughts”. The other mother I would have not even noticed. However, that was me before God wrecked my thought life.

This time, my heart broke. I sat there, ready to weep for those kids and their inattentive moms and absent dads. Honestly, the children may as well have not even existed. The look on the young boy’s face was blank, glazed over by the flicker of the TV screen, his body folded and withdrawn. Sporadically he’d glance up longingly to his mother, who never noticed and never looked at him. The young girl, older and bolder, would try and strike up conversation with her newspaper- reading mom, only to be met with a terse response that didn’t even warrant eye contact. After two or three attempts, defeated, she tried no more. Instead consoling her grief with animated antics on a television too distant to hear.

Similar scenes played themselves out all across this casual buffet restaurant with parents and children in various compositions and various levels of distance, far greater than a table’s width. I prayed for these kids and their families. I prayed for all the kids in my city who lived distant from their parents’ affection and involvement.

At the other end of the restaurant sat a lone gay man. Too often I struggle to view homosexuals with love and compassion. We exist in a time where the two loudest public voices are either “accept and affirm”, which I cannot, or “vilify and condemn”, which I will not. Both extremes and both unbiblical. Most often my reaction is one of slight disgust and indifference. That night, I simply felt sad for him. Again I prayed.

Now please don’t be misled. There are plenty of times I get annoyed at people and lack the compassion and love I’m called to. There are plenty of times I fall so short and choose to be indignant, when the situation calls for consideration. I have confessed it so many times, yet full repentance alludes me still.

However, on this night, compassion trickled out of me. I pray for the day when its deluge inundates me and my eyes are incapable of seeing people as inconveniences. The day when my heart knows no response except to recognize each person as someone for whom Christ loved enough to die and as someone that deserves the same love and honor I invest in myself.