Thoughts from Alex DiPrima

Dear Friends,

Today’s “thought” has to do with the Christians responsibility to the poor. Not our option to do so if we feel so led, but our responsibility. As Paul says he was told by Peter, James and John, in Gal. 2:10, when being given the right hand of fellowship into his standing as an apostle, “All they asked was that we continue to remember the poor, the very thing I was eager to do.”

Our thought is taken from Alex DiPrima’s book “Spurgeon and the Poor – How the Gospel Compels Christian Social Concern.” I just picked it up so I’m not all the way through it, but I would highly recommend it on the basis of what I have read so far. This selection comes from chapter 4, “Gospel Proclamation and Social Ministry.” It is very wise, balanced, biblical and helpful instruction. Enjoy.

“Spurgeon said in an 1862 sermon, ‘I would like if we who have a purer faith, could remember a little more the intimate connection between the body and the soul. Go to the poor man and tell him of the bread of heaven, but first give him the bread of earth, for how shall he hear you with a starving body? Talk to him of the robe of Jesus's righteousness, but you will do it all the better when you have provided a garment with which he may cover his nakedness. It seems an idle tale to a poor man if you talk to him of spiritual things and cruelly refuse him help as to temporals…. You ask a person to hear your preacher; but he knows that you are crotchety, short tempered, illiberal, and he is not likely to think much of the Word which, as he thinks, has made you what you are; but if, on the other hand, he sees your compassionate spirit, he will first be attracted to you, then next to what you have to say, and you may lead him as with a thread, and bring him to listen to the truth as it is in Jesus, and who can tell but thus, through the sympathy of your tender heart, you may be the means of bringing him to Christ.’

Spurgeon argued that Christian kindness and compassion toward the poor, the suffering, and the oppressed powerfully drew unbelievers toward such a compelling and generous community and, thus, to the gospel message itself.

Spurgeon believed that gospel proclamation and good works — word AND deed — are inseparable in the ministry of the local church. Social Ministry was not detached from Spurgeon's burden for soul winning. He held that mercy ministry among the needy, the afflicted, and the disenfranchised, plays a pivotal role in the church's witness to the world. The benevolent ministry of the church has evangelistic appeal and apologetic power.

Thus, Spurgeon sought to organize his church for all sorts of ministries designed to meet the material and physical needs of the surrounding community, such as the Stockwell Orphanage (housing and caring for 500 children), the Tabernacle Almshouses for poor widows, and a number of “ragged schools” for the education of poor children. These ministries had the effect of bearing witness to the character of God and the power of the gospel and were often a means of drawing men and women into the life of the church.

Some in our day may feel that involvement in social ministry is simply optional for local churches or that only those who feel especially burdened should get involved in various forms of outreach and service in the community. Such people would not have felt at home in Spurgeon’s church. For Spurgeon and his members at the Metropolitan Tabernacle, social ministry was not seen as optional but as indispensable to the church's work. A pastor today might think his church’s involvement in benevolence work in the community is optional or a matter of preference, based largely on the church's calendar, location, or the breakdown of its membership. But Spurgeon would hold him to be misguided, failing to understand that the Bible plainly calls all Christians to engage in this kind of ministry.

Whether it's Paul calling the Cretan Christians in Titus 2:14 to be as people “zealous of good works”, Peter urging the Christians in Asia minor in 1 Peter 2:12 to be known for their “good works”, or Jesus calling his disciples in Matthew 5:16 to “let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your father which is in heaven”, the Bible is replete with exhortations to carry on good works as part of the church's ministry to the world.

It is important to recognize that though social ministry is essential, the precise course this kind of ministry should take in a particular local church may vary considerably. What is important is that the congregation understands the broad principle that social ministry in the community is a vital part of church work. Pastors ought to preach on these principles from texts such as the ones mentioned above in order to convince the congregation of the importance of this work. The church can then exercise a great degree of freedom in terms of how this type of ministry is carried out, with sensitivity to God's providence and one's own context.

This command of Scripture can find all kinds of practical expressions in a local church, from informal ministries among the members of the church to more formal church sponsored ministries such as food pantries, mentoring programs, adoption fairs, ESL classes, foster care, and ministries to refugees. The important thing is that the work of addressing material and physical burdens among needy people is seen as indispensable, not optional, for the church.”

I was once chastised because my Seven Links of a Healthy Church includes social action, or social concern, as one of those seven links because it wasn’t in the Bible. I kindly disagreed and I still do. To ignore the plight of the poor, disenfranchised and struggling in this world is for the Church to shoot itself in one of the two feet through which it carries out its witness to Christ in this world. Remembering the poor was high on the apostles list as an essential thing they could not forget as they carried out Gospel ministry. We do well to listen to their words!

In the Service of Christ, Pastor Jeff