Pitfalls to Avoid in Mercy Ministry #3

The great Scottish theologian, Thomas Chalmers, is remembered for many reasons. One of his greatest achievements was his work on diaconal ministry. As I was looking at the 1853 edition of the Presbyterian Quarterly, I found an invaluable article that was written by Chalmers. The title of the article is, “The Church and the Poor in Great Cities.” You can find it in the Presbyterian Quarterly 1853 beginning on page 433. Chalmers was dealing with the political and sociological aspects of helping the poor in society as they relate to the ministry of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. At one point he offers this intriguing insight:

It ought to be observed as a preliminary to this inquiry, that no other means are so perfect as the unconstrained, spontaneous actions of individuals. If every prosperous person in the community will excercise a practical regard for the interest of his family and poor relations and friends, and for those employed by him, and for all persons who are in circumstances less prosperous than his own, yet having claims upon him by some sort of circumstances, and if those aided and encouraged will excercise the same spirit and will perform the same offices for others, then the whole mass of society will make an upward movement together. But this will not be. The lack of virtue in the many, imposes many higher responsibilities on the few, and this creates the necessity for associated endeavor. This associated endeavor manifests itself mainly in two ways. It aims to relieve want. It also seeks to improve the habits and the character of the needy that they shall be able to supply their own wants and to rise continually in the scale of comfort, respectability and usefulness. The former of these modes of action may be represented by eleemosynary institutions (i.e. mercy-based social services), such as the alms house and hospitals, asylums for the deaf and the blind, and for orphans and various classes of unfortunate persons. It includes also all similar operations by individuals. The later is expressed by the free school, the church and various modes of promoting intelligence and virtue.

Chalmer’s point, simply put, is that the rich will not work to solve the needs of the poor. Sure, there may be a benevolent, wealthy man or woman here and there, but the sad reality is that the more people increase their wealth the more sinful vices they bind themselves to. One pitfall to avoid then, is thinking that the cause of the poor can be acheived by one political and economic policy over another. And isn’t this what the socialist is trying to achieve. Make the rich give to the poor. The Robin Hood politic never works. Robin Hood must become a theif in order to do what he sees as virtuous. It is not just the socialist who thinks that the problem of the poor will be soved by political and economic goals. Even trickle down econmics (as much as it seems best to me) does not keep the rich from adding more sinful vices to the list of existing vices. As the rich get richer, greed also usually grows with every dollar.

Chalmers suggests that the only answer to this dilema is that we must “seeks to improve the habits and the character of the needy that they shall be able to supply their own wants and to rise continually in the scale of comfort, respectability and usefulness.” Those who have had the love of God pressed upon their hearts should want to help the poor rise above their sinful habits. We shoud not think that we have to “reinvent the wheel” in order to make this achievable. Chalmers points out that we should use the social services around us to help the poor and needy in their physical wants and that the church should be used to help them in their spiritual needs. One major pitfall to avoid is thinking that the church must be a welfare provider. Dr. David Apple has suggested that we learn about every social service in the neighboring community. If we know what services are offered in our communities the church will be able to focus her attention and resources on the ministry of the Gospel. At the same time the deacons, as well as other individuals in the church, will be ministering to the physical needs of those in want.