I'm always amused at the following fact: beggars today line up in front of liquor stores, not churches. I came up with a few practical reasons why this is the case. Liquor stores are open at least 6 days a week, whereas churches are only open 1 day a week. Hours of operation at a liquor store are a least 8 hours a day, compared to church hours of operation of 4 per week
However, this has not always been the case. There was a time churches were open most, if not all day, on most, if not all days of the week.
So what has changed? Why did we shut our doors? Have we become desensitized towards poverty, in the same way society in general has become desensitized towards violence and sex? Have we disconnected the spiritual from the material, focusing on preaching the gospel and forgettting to live the gospel? Are we greedy, stingy? Or are we just too damn practical?
I'm sure the answer is not a simple "yes" or "no" to any of these questions, but as always, convoluted, complicated, and intertwined. And I'm sure there are many other reasons I didn't think of. Someone ought to do research about this, maybe write a thesis on it.
But I think the following quote I heard over lunch today from a Christian friend (not Josh) summarizes perfectly what many Christians in wealthy contexts think about the matter. Of course, we don't express these thoughts explicitly, but they are implicit in the way we live. Here it is: "The Church has more important fires to deal with."
Pardon? Excuse me? More important fires? More important fires than protecting and proclaiming the image of God in men and women?
However, this has not always been the case. There was a time churches were open most, if not all day, on most, if not all days of the week.
So what has changed? Why did we shut our doors? Have we become desensitized towards poverty, in the same way society in general has become desensitized towards violence and sex? Have we disconnected the spiritual from the material, focusing on preaching the gospel and forgettting to live the gospel? Are we greedy, stingy? Or are we just too damn practical?
I'm sure the answer is not a simple "yes" or "no" to any of these questions, but as always, convoluted, complicated, and intertwined. And I'm sure there are many other reasons I didn't think of. Someone ought to do research about this, maybe write a thesis on it.
But I think the following quote I heard over lunch today from a Christian friend (not Josh) summarizes perfectly what many Christians in wealthy contexts think about the matter. Of course, we don't express these thoughts explicitly, but they are implicit in the way we live. Here it is: "The Church has more important fires to deal with."
Pardon? Excuse me? More important fires? More important fires than protecting and proclaiming the image of God in men and women?
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