Where's the Fire?
by Kathy Brown on August 10th, 2009 | 0 comments
Every time we turn the news on, more money is spraying, like water out of a fire hydrant, from Washington, DC. It is all done in the name of generosity and good will. It seems if anyone is opposed to this approach, they are tagged as being selfish, greedy or unkind. It requires thoughtful reflection to determine how to address the needs of those disadvantaged in our society.
Last week, I decided to ask someone with experience to help me thread through this whole matter. He runs a wonderful ministry in Rochester, Minnesota. It is the Rochester Network for Re-Entry (http://rnfr.org). Their purpose is to disciple men, women and children who have been impacted by crime. They have a policy for giving, which will be provided in the next posting.
Here is the response that I got from the Director:
“Our priority, as it is the priority of Jesus example to us in scripture, is spiritual poverty. That does not mean we ignore the material poverty, but we have adopted the idea if an individual is not concerned about their own spiritual poverty, then meeting their material poverty is mostly futile . . . We have found that without a commitment to relationship by giver and receiver there will be very little fruit. I think as each opportunity comes our way to be a giver, we have to look to the Spirit to guide our thinking to a response that will bring glory to God. Each opportunity is more about our relationship with God than it is anything else because He does not need us to feed people, as is obvious by the feeding of the 5,000 or 4,000. He can do it. His is the provider. I don’t know the mind of God, but I do think that He has a different logic about giving than we do, as evidenced by my salvation.”
The secular idea of “rescue” is entirely different from that revealed in the Bible. The world system hoses down whatever presents itself as a hot spot of trouble. Often there are intended targets, but also unintended consequences that ignite more problems. Success is mostly measured by intentions, rather than actual outcomes.
The Christian’s view of problem solving is altogether different. Jesus desires to change the inner man with His radical transaction that will transform the heart, then families, and thus communities. He calls Himself “living water” and offers it to anyone who is thirsty.
So what’s the first thing to do before sounding the siren, dragging out the emergency equipment and drenching everything in sight? Perhaps it is as simple as testing the water.
Next entry: Giving Policy
Previous entry: Drifters
back to Blog Archive