Most of you who know me well enough know that I am very
intimately involved in a non-profit ministry called Designs For Hope
(www.designsforhope.org). Designs for
Hope is a compassion-based ministry that designs innovative technological
solutions that empower struggling pastors and church leaders in the poorest
areas of the world to more effectively spread the gospel of Jesus Christ. Recently (last night as I write this, in
fact), I was meeting with a pastor at a local church telling him about what all
God was doing through Designs For Hope.
My wish was that Designs For Hope could be a resource to that church as
they go about their missions activities.
Now I realize that what Designs For Hope does will not always apply in
every mission venue and so I would not have been surprised for him to say that
his church’s mission objectives did not align with Designs For Hope’s. However, I was somewhat surprised by the
pastor’s fairly straightforward rejection of the very idea of what Designs For
Hope was doing. Don’t get me wrong, he
was extremely gracious and Christ-like in his rejection, but there was no
mistake in my mind that he did not believe that the mission of Designs For Hope
was very beneficial to Kingdom work. In
fact, by his own words, it was fairly clear that he believed our work created
not only a mindset of dependency upon foreign help, but also opened the door to
envy between the pastors we help and the people we did not (or could not) help. To put this in its right context, Designs for
Hope helps these pastors and evangelists by providing bicycle or solar powered
generators so that they can have just a tiny bit of lighting in their small
homes. We also provide water filtration
systems so that they can have safe, clean water to drink. In this pastor’s view – at least as I
understood our conversation - mission efforts should be about sharing the Word
of God and planting churches, not about handouts and aid.
As a point of clarification, I know enough about this pastor
to have a considerable amount of respect for him – enough respect that I took his words very
seriously and to give them significant weight and consideration. Indeed, I have to admit there is truth in
what he said. In the past 50 years or so there has been billions of dollars in foreign
aid sent Africa with little or no impact other than creating a greater
dependence upon foreign aid. To make
matters worse, we have actually experienced some of what he alluded to in our
work at Designs For Hope already. As an
organization, we have to work very hard not to be just another handout, but to
truly empower church leaders in their gospel ministry. We are also very diligent about making sure
that we create opportunities for the Word of God to be taught and preached as
part of what we do. Even still, we have
experienced the politics this pastor mentioned - politics associated with the
pastor receiving such amenities while the flock still struggles. Our goal is not to give them a handout that
sets them above the congregants, but rather a help-up that enables them to
serve the congregants. Admittedly, that is a difficult task and so his words
lingered in my thoughts all evening. Is
it really true that mission efforts that focus on compassion are a waste of
kingdom resources? No one wants to be
accused of throwing good money after bad, or worse, being poor stewards of what
God has entrusted to us. These thoughts
were even more exaggerated by the fact that my own personal passion is
preaching and teaching the Word of God – compassion ministries come very hard
for me, but the ministry of the Word comes very easily for me.
It is a good thing to have your motivations and your mission
challenged every now and again. As I
prayed over this, a number of scriptures were brought to my mind that reminded
me that we cannot focus too heavily on one approach versus the other. Yes, my greatest desire is for God to instill faith
in every person on the planet. The truth
of the Word of God is so important and the temporary comforts brought about
through mere altruistic endeavors will do nothing to forego eternal pain. In my meditation over this, however, I was
reminded of James chapter two.
14 What good is it, my brothers, if someone
says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? 15 If a brother
or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, 16 and one of you says
to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed
for the body, what good is that? 17 So also faith by itself, if it does not
have works, is dead. (ESV)
Similarly, 1 John 3:17-18 says:
But if anyone has the world's goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God's love abide in him? Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth. (ESV)
Similarly, 1 John 3:17-18 says:
But if anyone has the world's goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God's love abide in him? Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth. (ESV)
“Sharing” our faith is an essential part of every mission
effort. If we do not have this, we are
nothing more than a Social Gospel.
However, we cannot just focus so exclusively on the gospel that we
ignore the very real and urgent needs of our brothers and sisters in Christ –
especially of those who are doing Kingdom work.
Those of us who live in the “first world” have been richly blessed by
God. Even the poorest among us are
wealthy in comparison to the millions and millions who live on daily wages that
would not even buy us a cup of coffee.
Why has God given us those blessings if not for the purpose of blessing
others? Did not Jesus tell the Rich
Young Ruler in Luke 18 to sell his riches and give to the poor? Did not Zacchaeus in Luke 19 do precisely
that? I’m not saying that God
necessarily wants you to sell everything you have and give it away (although
you should not make the mistake of presuming that he does NOT want that for
you). What I am saying is that the
ministry of the Word of God cannot be separated from the ministry of
compassion.
The first chapter of the gospel of John tells us that Jesus
was the WORD incarnate. The Word of God
is crucial and essential in all mission efforts. Without the Word of God, there can be no
faith. Paul asks in Romans 10 how they
can believe in the one of whom they have not heard? He then says that faith comes by hearing and
that hearing comes through the Word of Christ.
However, the first chapter of John also tells us that Jesus was filled
with BOTH grace AND truth. Jesus was not
solely about being the incarnate WORD of God, he was also about being the
incarnate NATURE of God. A simple
examination of his life and ministry is evidence enough that compassion
ministries are a vital part of the Christian mission and true to the very
nature of God. In the ESV version of the
English Bible, the gospel speaks specifically nine times of the compassion that
Jesus had for the people. Three more
times it speaks of how he was moved by the people’s circumstances. At other
times it says he took pity on them. In
each of these situations, his compassion and pity led him to take action to
relieve their suffering. These actions were
not without the same kind of risks that my pastor friend warned about – and not
always were they directly tied to a spiritual lesson. When Jesus fed the 5000, the spiritual lesson
was not for the masses, but for his 12 disciples. For everyone else, it was
just a miraculous dinner. In fact, the
impact on the 5000 was exactly what my pastor friend warned about – the crowds
just sought Jesus all the more – what can YOU do for ME - and, in John 6, Jesus
has to rebuke them for seeking him solely to be fed physical food. Those risks did not stop Jesus from showing
compassion and they should not stop us either.
The purpose of this article is not at all to malign my
pastor friend (he probably will not even read this and most – if not all - who
do read this will have no idea who I am talking about anyway). As I said, I have great respect for him and
gave very serious consideration to his words. In the end, however, I think that
in some respects he may have been right, but that in other respects he was
wrong. Yes, I agree with him. There is a risk and a responsibility
associated with compassion ministries.
It takes great effort to make sure that such ministries are being
faithful and true to the gospel and not just mere benevolence. That is why Designs For Hope partners with
organizations who are engaged in the evangelistic efforts, and that is why
Designs for Hope’s Partnership Covenant lays out clear expectations that its
products are to be used as a tool to advance the gospel and not for profiteering. However, I don’t agree with him that engaging
in compassion ministries is hurtful to the people. if Jesus could engage in compassion
ministries even with the reality of it being misused by some, then I think we
ought to consider ourselves open to those ministries as well.
