A car pulls up to the drive-through window of a local burger spot and the driver extends his hand to pay the cashier. “The car in front of you paid for your order and said to give you this,” the attendant explains, handing the driver his order and what appears to be a business card.That's an excerpt from the story Gardendale's FBC members pay for others' meals as outreach. I've been thinking about this type of "outreach" recently. It's usually called "random acts of kindness" or something... feel-good moralism with a Jesus twist.
The stunned driver looks at the card and reads, “We just wanted to show you the love of Jesus in a practical way.” Below these words he sees a church’s name, address and worship times. He turns the card over to reveal a simple map and written directions to Gardendale’s First Baptist Church in North Jefferson Baptist Association.
I do applaud the church for wanting to get out into the community... to do something. But is this the right something? Washing windows in a Wal-mart parking lot, paying for a random person's burger, planting flowers in a school yard... what do these things actually accomplish? Clean windshields, a free burger, a pretty school yard?
Now, I'm not opposed to buying someone a burger. I'm just concerned about what message we're sending when we do this as some form of outreach. It seems that the act itself is the main thing... then we can tack Jesus onto it in order to redeem it.
Or, just forget about tacking Jesus onto it and you get ArkAlmighty, the "movement" spun off from "Evan Almighty." Here's a quote from the "about" page:
The ArkALMIGHTY.com website is designed to enable youth groups and churches to easily get involved in practical and tangible volunteer outreach. Can you balance a checkbook? Can you hang a picture frame? Can you throw a spiral? You might not think of these everyday activities as volunteering, but for the people around you who can’t do them, your ability and your willingness to help is exactly what they need. You’d be amazed how a simple act of kindness can change lives.It's all about changing lives with acts of kindness. To me, it just smacks of Christ-less, self-help, "what we can accomplish together," moralism. In this case it's not even, "Here's what Jesus can do for you." It is, "Here's what we can to for you."
I know that there is room for meeting needs in the community, and I'm all for that (giving a free burger to a homeless guy, visiting widows and orphans, teaching poor kids to read, etc.) . So, I've probably gone too far in my criticisms of this "random acts" sort of outreach. But where's the line? When have we gone from sharing the love of Christ to sharing the niceness of Christians? It almost seems that these things are done to show how nice and friendly we Christians are. "Here's a free burger. See how nice Christ has made us? Don't you want to come a be a part of our fellowship?"
I can't quite put my finger on the problem, here. What do you think? Am I off base? Leave a comment (esp if you think I'm wrong).
8 comments:
The Guys at the White Horse Inn have been talking about this kind of thing lately. Their latest discussion is on how evangelism was done in the Book of Acts and is definitely worth listening to. Even better is their discussion from 6/3/2007 on "Christ-less Christianity". You can hear it at
http://www.oneplace.com/ministries/The_White_Horse_Inn/archives.asp
Jim, I hear you, but want to make one very important point:
The real issue here (as with many things) is motivation.
Jesus said, "Let your light shine before men so that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven" (Matt. 5:16).
Jesus commands us to do good things in order that people might glorify God.
So, are you doing the "good deed" so that God might be seen, or so that you might be seen?
THE issue for me is not whether we should pay for someone's burger and leave a card inviting them to church. THE issue for me is what will they hear when they come to that church. If they will hear of their sinfulness and Christ's righteousness, by all means, invite them! If they will just meet a bunch of nice people, slick music, and a pep talk, please, don't invite them.
So, I'm all about random acts of kindness that have the gospel and the glory of God as the goal. We cannont stop with the burger. We must lay down our lives.
In Conclusion: Buy the burger, wash the winshield, plant the flowers in order that Christ might be treasured. What's the alternative?
And, I cannot wait for next Wednesday night. A group from my church is going to the Mall parking lot to give out free bottles of water to the sweaty people waiting for the fireworks show. We're asking God to transfer people from darkness to light on a Wednesday evening in July.
Earthworm,
I agree with Justin. Quit haten' brother. RAOK are a good thing.
-Seth
Yeah, I really like what the White Horse Inn is doing. I usually don't miss a show.
Justin C.,
Point taken. Motivation is very important. But, at the same time, folks do some really crazy things with the right motivation. My question is, How far can we go with this?
For example, I heard of a church paying people to come to church on Sundays... granted it wasn't exactly the same situation (it was a church paying white folks to come). But if our motivation in paying folks is to get them to church to hear the gospel, why not? People need money. It's nice to give people money. So, why not?
So, I think it has to be right motivation and right methods. Motivation to get people to church to hear the gospel is a good thing... but using cash bribes to get them there is not a good method.
I'll repeat a statement from the post: "I've probably gone too far in my criticisms of this "random acts" sort of outreach. But where's the line?"
How can we distinguish between legitimate outreach and "cheesy" outreach?
Another question we might have to tackle is the word/deed mix in mercy and evangelism. Do we always need to mention the gospel in meeting needs? Do we always have to meet needs when we share the gospel?
Ps. just getting us prepped for the July 31 meeting on evangelism.
Something else after talking to my wife (she's great, ya know).
In some instances, there seems to be a legitimate need identified (feeding a homeless guy, cold water for hot sweaty peeps, paying a light bill for someone who's broke).
In other instances (free burger for the guy in line behind you, clean window when you leave Wal-mart) no real need is identified. It really is a "random" act of kindness.
Is that a start? Just thinking.
Yes, I agree that we must be careful with our methods as well as our motivation.
There is a difference between saying, "If you come to church, we will give you $20," and "Here is $20 to get some gas. Jesus died for sinners. I know a great church that meets around the corner."
Jim, you have pointed us to a very legitimate "issue." How do we radically love people, meet their needs, and take risks for the gospel without compromising faithfulness to the message?
I've found the chapter on evangelism in "The Deliberate Church" to be helpful.
I'll look forward to discussing this further. Until we find the answer, I'm going to be kind to people for the sake of the gospel and try to avoid the cheese!
Our church does a "water bottle" handout during the hottest part of summer. It has a lable with the church address, service times, and a verse from John 4 about Jesus being the living water.
We view it as a bridge builder. It's not an end in itself, but a start to hopefully further discussion.
I hear your heart...I think. You don't want to wimp out on giving the gospel message. Obviously someone is not going to get saved without hearing about Christ. However, if the only method of sharing is getting out the Book standing on the street corner and preaching then where does Ephesians 2:10 come in? When and where do we give the cup of cold water, feed the poor, and clothe the naked? As mentioned above, how do we let our light shine?
We have tried this at our church and it works. We have seen it also improve the christian walk of the folks who are reaching out.
I think for this to work you need to do it without expecting anything at all back(faith). Our biggest problem when doing this is getting folks to understand it is free. We have to make big signs saying "No, really it's free" "No strings attached!!"
We still laugh as folks try and pay us...it is an amazing outreach.
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