Tell me: when Jesus told the disciples to go without money, did this suddenly mean that giving to the poor was no longer necessary? Why does Paul argue so strongly for giving to the poor, when he himself has no money?
What I am advocating is a shifting of resources already present. The government is involved in all kinds of things that it should not be, like schools, NASA, research on such insane things as pig flatulence,and it's effect on the environment, etc. We spend hundreds of millions of dollars on conservationist programs, to protect trees and birds, while PEOPLE are in need of medical care.
The message for the church is different from the message for the world.
The governments of the world cannot be expected to deal with mammon or power with the righteousness and justice of God. Even God's people have their human limitations as to exercising good judgement. This thread is proof. If government is allowed to have its way, it will even take from the church to redistribute as it sees fit. When the church uses its resources to help others as a ministry..... it is exercising its accountability to God, to its contributors and the glory and thanks belong to God. When governments exercise their power to tax and then redistribute the funds in some type of program for the people, it rarely exercises its obligations under the constitution to consider the wishes of the people, it rarely is accountable to the people for the quality of care, it is subject to manipulation by 'its not what you know but who you know' which corrupts equality of access, and there are limits to accountability: Those involved in the distribution of services have restrictions of budget but little accountability as to how determinations are made or the efficiency of their work: Those receiveing the care have few that they can personally thank, even God is removed, as they are processed like a bunch of lottery numbers on a list and perhaps scaled according to some perception of qualifying, attributes such as age or potential for economic return or contribution to the worth in society. Generally the church makes no such subjective judgements but values all life and distributes within the limitations of its resources, amounts which require no obligation of the recipient and no promise to have the ability to sustain its benevolence: This places the responsibility on those who receive such helps to do what they can for themselves once a crisis is past or is within the power of their ability to obtain other resources, and it places them in a position of conscience before God not to request that which they have no need of. Government helps....... like insurance policies which have low co-pays per visit or promise certain procedures as fully covered w/o co-pays or deductible..... to increase the demands for such services and visits, whether really needed or not. Under the later, those who are conservatively conscious of their own responsibility may not seek all the care which they could receive as a costly entitlement....... while others take advantage of every opportunity to obtain care and attention, whether needed or not, because its 'free' or 'cheap'. I've known people who diliberately went to the doctor on a low co-pay just to get a doctor's note to miss work and get their sick leave pay, when they planned to meet friends out of town.
Several personal remarks don't add up to me: 80000 in social security? Making only 380 a month? Not explained........ surely you must mean over the poverty level? or is that really net income.....i.e. take home pay after taxes and withholding are applied to the gross amount? Your confusion over the authority and discipline of the church under Jesus Christ as opposed to the involvement of government? Your confusion over our rights being God given as opposed to government provided? Government only takes away rights. It cannot give what is not within its power to give. Either the people keep their rights which God gave to them.... or they give 'em up to government. Once rights are given up.... they are hard to reclaim without revolution. The rights we give up exposes those which we retain to be taken away. Chose this day, who you will serve..... God or mammon! A time is coming where people can no longer sit on a fence. As we are making these choices in the secular.... it is also taking a toll in the spiritual.
I will say this...... to all who call themselves ministers of the gospel....... You cannot be my pastor or authority if I perceive you are too uncertain regarding the authority in your own life and confuse the ministry of the church with the obligations of the government. Jesus called his own body a temple. He tells me that I am also a temple of the holy spirit. I prefere to worship within a stable community of believers which is organized and called a church..... But I've seen many times on the road when I could not go to church but found fellowship with strangers who were believers..... and therefore my brothers and sisters in Christ...... and together our fellowship encompassed the inclusion of the presence of the LORD.... and, in effect, we had church. No Christian is alone. With the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit..... there can be enough to have 'church' if the organization and the fellowship of friends should ever fail.
