Church Ministry Priority
There are many noble ministry activities for a church to tackle. Many of these are of a tangible/physical nature. And many churches are able
to do extensive good and profound help in their community by giving to those
physical needs. These ministries may be known
for one or another of these good moral activities. As a compassionate community we (the church)
are naturally going to love others and that love will be demonstrated by taking
care of people’s physical needs.
However, a problem can come when this becomes the church’s main priority. Taking care of a city’s homeless, or a communities’ lepers are Christ-like activities; and yet, if they are not means to a greater end then they fall short of the church’s main priority. Our priority must be the Word of Christ – sharing the truths of the Bible that will transform people to love and worship the one true God. If we fall short of this then our ministry, no matter how helpful, is not Christian ministry in the truest sense.
What if you were to develop a cure for an
acute type of blindness that took the site of 20 million people worldwide? Someone close to you lost their site to this
disease so you were motivated to dedicate your life to find a cure. After years of
painstaking research and collaboration you finally reached the point where
you were confident of a cure that was inexpensive and readily treatable. Would you not be considered a fool if you
then decided to give the rest of your life to helping those with this disease
feel comfortable in their current condition?
Instead of giving them the solution, you hid it away and thought that
the compassionate thing to do was to care for them in their blindness. People would doubt your compassion to care
for the needy. You had a solution! And if you did not prioritize your efforts to
administer the remedy to the blind you would be considered heartless indeed.
However, a problem can come when this becomes the church’s main priority. Taking care of a city’s homeless, or a communities’ lepers are Christ-like activities; and yet, if they are not means to a greater end then they fall short of the church’s main priority. Our priority must be the Word of Christ – sharing the truths of the Bible that will transform people to love and worship the one true God. If we fall short of this then our ministry, no matter how helpful, is not Christian ministry in the truest sense.
What if you were to develop a cure for an
acute type of blindness that took the site of 20 million people worldwide? Someone close to you lost their site to this
disease so you were motivated to dedicate your life to find a cure. After years of
painstaking research and collaboration you finally reached the point where
you were confident of a cure that was inexpensive and readily treatable. Would you not be considered a fool if you
then decided to give the rest of your life to helping those with this disease
feel comfortable in their current condition?
Instead of giving them the solution, you hid it away and thought that
the compassionate thing to do was to care for them in their blindness. People would doubt your compassion to care
for the needy. You had a solution! And if you did not prioritize your efforts to
administer the remedy to the blind you would be considered heartless indeed.
Christian, you too have a remedy that opens the eyes of
the spiritually blind. And this is the
ministry that the church must see as its greatest priority. All our humanitarian efforts must be to point
humans to a gloriously loving Savior Who will satisfy all of their longings
with Himself. Even taking care of
humanities’ physical pain and suffering must be a means to the end of opening
their spiritual eyes to the need of spiritual life. So let us not forget to care for the needy,
but only that our caring may bring them to the One Who can truly take care of
their physical and spiritual needs for now and for eternity.
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