Is entitlement killing the church?
As I look at all the ways the government is moving in to "take care of the 'least of these,'" I'm struck by some of the unintended consequences. Do the poor need an advocate? Yes! Do they need people to actually "do" something? Absolutely! Is faith shown by what we do? It needs to be! But, if the government steps in (a la healthcare, welfare, etc.) what does it actually do to the people who receive help? What kind of culture does it create? What unintended consequences do these people with good intentions create?
First, if you look at the end result of welfare at its extremes there are two choices: become successful and get off welfare or become entitled to a lifestyle beyond your means and never do anything. Now, if you ask anyone in a major relief organization who works with people (for instance, World Vision's Haiti team), they set definite timetables and expectations. In fact, World Vision already has a date when they will no longer be providing aid directly to individuals (they will cut off the food/water supplies being flown/shipped in)! Why? Because they are aware of the entitlement epidemic in situations where people need help. Instead of saying, "We just need to give them what they need as long as they need it" they say, "We want to help them up so they can walk on their own and provide for themselves." That is the major issue with most governmental aid: instead of helping people up to better themselves, it creates an entitlement epidemic where people think that everything they want/need will be given to them. Bill Cosby has been very critical of the current welfare system because he says it promotes "niggerism" instead of promoting personal success. In a nutshell, he says that the aid continually given creates people who will not, cannot, and never intend to better themselves because they don't need to! There is no incentive to work hard if what you want is already given to you. I mean, I'd love to sit at home and play video games all day if I didn't have to work for a living, but I know I need to support my family (and I really enjoy my job!) and be a person of worth in my work (since that is pleasing to God [1 Timothy 4.10] and my assignment from Him!).
Now, lets balance this negative "entitlement epidemic" with our biblical mandate to help the poor and examine the interplay.
1. The mandate to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, etc. is personal, not governmental. Jesus said that if WE didn't do those things, He didn't know us. Not if our government didn't do those things, He didn't know us.
2. The mandate to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, etc. is built into certain people's spiritual gifting. If someone's gift is not needed, doesn't the whole body suffer (think about what would happen if your hand was slowly atrophying: would it affect you in a big way?)?
3. While government is appointed by God to promote justice, to protect, and deserving of our obedience (Romans 13.1-7), it isn't the same as the church, which is "knit together" to accomplish God's purposes. If the government is trying to accomplish God's purposes for the church (which begs the question, is then the church to accomplish God's purposes for government?), what is the church going to do? "Without purpose/vision, the people perish" Proverbs says, so what does that mean if the church loses its purpose/vision as given by God?
So, we are called (commanded, whatever verbiage you want to use) to feed the hungry and clothe the naked. When was the last time you did either? I can honestly say the last time was last week, but that is because people come to our church looking for help. As a matter of personal faith, the last time would be a LONG time ago. That is so wrong on so many levels! Instead of being a passionately loving follower of Christ, I have become an apathetic Christian. Why? Because I have been told that it's "not my job?" No! Because I'm lazy and would rather be comfortable than out there working hard to help someone else. That's the honest truth from me, about me. Now, why aren't the rest of the church out there working hard to help people in need? Oooh, I think that might've hit a vein. Because government stepped in, the church is no longer the instrument of personal faith. Instead, personal faith is exercised through taxation (is that even really possible?) so that the "least of these" are cared for. So easy, so simple, so inactively amazing that it dulls the senses.
Now wait a minute, a dull church that doesn't live what it is made for, doesn't that sound like the plan the enemy has for the church? I would venture to say that the whole idea of "social justice" as espoused by our current president and staff is meant well. I think they have the best for the most in mind, but they missed the point. If the church doesn't have to serve, if the church can be so fat and lazy that it no longer HAS to do Jesus' mission for us ("I mean, it comes out of taxes and takes care of them just like we would so I'm doing God's will!" Is that the idea Jesus has in mind for us?). As C.S. Lewis postulates in the Screwtape Letters, the devil's most insidious snare is to make us feel as if we are doing our Christian duty while lulling us to sleep from what God really intended. If we take that to its logical conclusion, "social justice" as defined as forced "wealth redistribution" (which is the language used by everyone in the administration and many other influential figures in the public square), is nothing less than satanic. It eliminates the need for people to actually do anything in Christian love and charity, because "it's already taken care of." Can we agree with something that dilutes, disarms, and eventually destroys the church through apathy? I hope not, and that is why I am strongly opposed to "long term" programs like welfare, the new healthcare measures, etc. Instead, the crowing achievement of the church MUST be our living a life of love, self-denial and sacrifice, just like Jesus. Without that, there's really no point in doing anything, because we really haven't been with Him and we will be oh so surprised when He says, "I never knew you." That's not who I want to be...
First, if you look at the end result of welfare at its extremes there are two choices: become successful and get off welfare or become entitled to a lifestyle beyond your means and never do anything. Now, if you ask anyone in a major relief organization who works with people (for instance, World Vision's Haiti team), they set definite timetables and expectations. In fact, World Vision already has a date when they will no longer be providing aid directly to individuals (they will cut off the food/water supplies being flown/shipped in)! Why? Because they are aware of the entitlement epidemic in situations where people need help. Instead of saying, "We just need to give them what they need as long as they need it" they say, "We want to help them up so they can walk on their own and provide for themselves." That is the major issue with most governmental aid: instead of helping people up to better themselves, it creates an entitlement epidemic where people think that everything they want/need will be given to them. Bill Cosby has been very critical of the current welfare system because he says it promotes "niggerism" instead of promoting personal success. In a nutshell, he says that the aid continually given creates people who will not, cannot, and never intend to better themselves because they don't need to! There is no incentive to work hard if what you want is already given to you. I mean, I'd love to sit at home and play video games all day if I didn't have to work for a living, but I know I need to support my family (and I really enjoy my job!) and be a person of worth in my work (since that is pleasing to God [1 Timothy 4.10] and my assignment from Him!).
Now, lets balance this negative "entitlement epidemic" with our biblical mandate to help the poor and examine the interplay.
1. The mandate to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, etc. is personal, not governmental. Jesus said that if WE didn't do those things, He didn't know us. Not if our government didn't do those things, He didn't know us.
2. The mandate to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, etc. is built into certain people's spiritual gifting. If someone's gift is not needed, doesn't the whole body suffer (think about what would happen if your hand was slowly atrophying: would it affect you in a big way?)?
3. While government is appointed by God to promote justice, to protect, and deserving of our obedience (Romans 13.1-7), it isn't the same as the church, which is "knit together" to accomplish God's purposes. If the government is trying to accomplish God's purposes for the church (which begs the question, is then the church to accomplish God's purposes for government?), what is the church going to do? "Without purpose/vision, the people perish" Proverbs says, so what does that mean if the church loses its purpose/vision as given by God?
So, we are called (commanded, whatever verbiage you want to use) to feed the hungry and clothe the naked. When was the last time you did either? I can honestly say the last time was last week, but that is because people come to our church looking for help. As a matter of personal faith, the last time would be a LONG time ago. That is so wrong on so many levels! Instead of being a passionately loving follower of Christ, I have become an apathetic Christian. Why? Because I have been told that it's "not my job?" No! Because I'm lazy and would rather be comfortable than out there working hard to help someone else. That's the honest truth from me, about me. Now, why aren't the rest of the church out there working hard to help people in need? Oooh, I think that might've hit a vein. Because government stepped in, the church is no longer the instrument of personal faith. Instead, personal faith is exercised through taxation (is that even really possible?) so that the "least of these" are cared for. So easy, so simple, so inactively amazing that it dulls the senses.
Now wait a minute, a dull church that doesn't live what it is made for, doesn't that sound like the plan the enemy has for the church? I would venture to say that the whole idea of "social justice" as espoused by our current president and staff is meant well. I think they have the best for the most in mind, but they missed the point. If the church doesn't have to serve, if the church can be so fat and lazy that it no longer HAS to do Jesus' mission for us ("I mean, it comes out of taxes and takes care of them just like we would so I'm doing God's will!" Is that the idea Jesus has in mind for us?). As C.S. Lewis postulates in the Screwtape Letters, the devil's most insidious snare is to make us feel as if we are doing our Christian duty while lulling us to sleep from what God really intended. If we take that to its logical conclusion, "social justice" as defined as forced "wealth redistribution" (which is the language used by everyone in the administration and many other influential figures in the public square), is nothing less than satanic. It eliminates the need for people to actually do anything in Christian love and charity, because "it's already taken care of." Can we agree with something that dilutes, disarms, and eventually destroys the church through apathy? I hope not, and that is why I am strongly opposed to "long term" programs like welfare, the new healthcare measures, etc. Instead, the crowing achievement of the church MUST be our living a life of love, self-denial and sacrifice, just like Jesus. Without that, there's really no point in doing anything, because we really haven't been with Him and we will be oh so surprised when He says, "I never knew you." That's not who I want to be...
It seems today that people think that church and faith is about them. "What can God do for me," when we should be saying, "what can I do for God."
ReplyDeleteExactly! When we focus on us, we lose the big picture God intended. I wrote this article, in part, because of work on my Master's thesis thing and also because of the book "God & Guinness" (never question a read that marries those two things!). Arthur Guinness lived his faith and changed his country in many ways because of that faith, it wasn't a government program that did it! That is why I am so fed up with Christians who are willing to give away their responsibility so they can be lazy!
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