“They do no missionary work here, canvass no alleys, cook in no soup kitchen. Prayer is the occupation.”
This morning’s issue of the New York Times contains, in my opinion, a troubling article about a small cloister of nuns in urban Los Angeles. Their mission is simple: Prayer. Though they are located on Hollywood Boulevard, which is infamous for prostitution and drugs, no ministry to the community is in existence. I fear that I may be self-righteous in writing this, but I have to say that this is not in line with the heart of Christianity. Listen to what the book of James says:
But be doers of the word [the Scripture], and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing. If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person’s religion is worthless. Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in thier affliction, and to keep onself unstained from the world.
The God of Christianity is supremely concerned with the welfare of the poor and disenfranchised in society. From the laws in the Mosaic Law ordering wealthy landowners to leave a portion of their fields for the poor to eat, to the healing of lepers and blind people in the Gospels, God has shown that he is compassionate to the needy.
My great concern is this: This “hide-from-the-problems-of-the-world-and-hope-that-they’ll-go-away mindset,” of which this article concerning the nuns is but one example, permeates all of Christianity, Catholic and Protestant alike. This is a far cry from the calling of Jesus Christ, who lived and died to bring healing and reconciliation to His people. The Church is called to those who are hurting, spiritually and physically. According to James, we can’t claim to be spiritual and ignore the poor.
The conservative evangelical church, of which I am a part of, has largely backed away from mercy ministries within the last century or so. The reason this happened was a reaction towards some elements of the church who, subscribing to more liberal theology, focused on social justice but divorced it from the Gospel. Therefore, these liberal churches became basically social welfare agencies and lost their Christian distinctiveness. When the conservative churches saw this happening, they overreacted by heralding Christian distinctives while eliminating their God-given responsibility to care for the poor. Interestingly enough, the Gospel teaches that both of these approaches are absolutely wrong.
I’ll close with the great prayer of St. Francis of Assisi (1181-1226), a man born wealthy but gave it all away to preach the Gospel and care for the poor:
Lord, make me an instrument of your peace,
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
where there is sadness, joy.
O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console;
to be understood as to understand;
to be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive;
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.
Yes, let us pray for those who don’t believe, those who don’t have the hope that comes by grasping the incredible love that God has for His people because of Jesus Christ. But let’s not stop there. Let’s be the hands and feet of Christ, and tell people about Jesus while we give them a packet of clothing or a hot bowl of soup. There is no healing without the Gospel, and there is no Gospel without healing.
