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Is the Church focusing on the root or the fruit of society’s problems?
Church in the Community - Media Release in the Herald: 30th September 2024
Source: TCN / Russell Viljoen
Date Added: 2024-09-30
Category: General News, TCN News, Issues - General, Issues - Social upliftment,
Date Added: 2024-09-30
Category: General News, TCN News, Issues - General, Issues - Social upliftment,
There is a funny story I heard many years ago about a man who went to the doctor and told the physician that his whole body was in pain because wherever he pressed on his body with his finger, it would be sore.
The doctor looked at him and told him that there was nothing wrong with his body, but that his finger was broken!
Are we not like that sometimes?
We see a problem everywhere except within ourselves.
This is most probably true of the Church today as we look at all the lawlessness and corruption that is so pervasive before us in our very communities where we live and work. Just recently I spoke to a pastor whose church had to close because all the equipment, including the chairs, was stolen out of the building they were hiring.
As the Church, we are called to be a part of the solution, not the problem.
What should be the church’s role in addressing these societal challenges?
It is heartbreaking to see how millions of rands worth of education, sport, road, water, and electricity infrastructure is being destroyed by the very communities that are supposed to benefit from these.
This infrastructure is repaired and replaced only to be stolen or vandalized literally days later.
All our law enforcement agencies can do is to address the fruit of the problem.
The only institution that can address the root of the problem is the Church.
What is the root of the problem? It is not the government, the police, or the municipality, but the very people who live and work beside us in our communities and sit in our pews.
Changing and improving the physical infrastructure around us is only addressing the fruit of the problem but changing the hearts of the people around us addresses the root of the problem.
Only by changing the hearts of people will we be able to bring about permanent solutions in our communities.
Is this not what Christ and the Bible has been teaching us all along?
Should the Church not be focusing more on reaching out and discipling people with the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ which is able to change a sinner into a saint?
Is this not the core business of the Church?
Has the Church been distracted from dealing with the root by focusing too much on the fruit?
It is good for us to speak out on issues and to do welfare programmes for the poor and needy.
These are important, but is it more important to focus on healing the heart and mind of the individual.
Why does most of the Church not want to focus on the core business of evangelism and discipleship anymore?
To me, the two main reasons are compromising leaders and selfishness.
There are too many church leaders who compromise the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ by preaching it in a convenient manner so as not to offend congregants or to challenge them to live right.
The reasons for this could be popularity or financial stability.
They say that in churches, people vote either with their feet or their finances.
We need church leaders who will not be moved by the changing physical, political or economic landscape, but by the pain, suffering and hopelessness that people are enduring right in front of us.
Leaders who turn a blind eye or avoid this God-given mandate of healing people are as much a part of the problems in society as anyone or anything else.
Selfishness is, of course, rampant in our communities today and we can see it in how isolated people are from each other, with high walls, electric fences, security gates etc.
The core character of the Church is not selfishness but selflessness.
We are called to lay down our lives for others.
I have personally seen what a massive positive change a little love can make in a community.
It is not the big things in life that have the greatest impact but the small acts of love, caring and sacrifice.
I will conclude by quoting from 1 John 4:19 which says, “We love Christ Jesus because He first loved us.”
If we want to see lasting change in our communities, we need church leaders and congregants who will decide to love first, just as the love of the Lord changes us.
The Church needs to return to loving Christ more than convenience, loving the Word (the Bible) more than the world, loving the individual more than the crowd, loving evangelism more than entertainment!
Only by doing this will we be able to root out the problems that plague our communities and be able to enjoy a life of peace and safety for all.
Russel Viljoen
Pastor at Ebenezer North
The doctor looked at him and told him that there was nothing wrong with his body, but that his finger was broken!
Are we not like that sometimes?
We see a problem everywhere except within ourselves.
This is most probably true of the Church today as we look at all the lawlessness and corruption that is so pervasive before us in our very communities where we live and work. Just recently I spoke to a pastor whose church had to close because all the equipment, including the chairs, was stolen out of the building they were hiring.
As the Church, we are called to be a part of the solution, not the problem.
What should be the church’s role in addressing these societal challenges?
It is heartbreaking to see how millions of rands worth of education, sport, road, water, and electricity infrastructure is being destroyed by the very communities that are supposed to benefit from these.
This infrastructure is repaired and replaced only to be stolen or vandalized literally days later.
All our law enforcement agencies can do is to address the fruit of the problem.
The only institution that can address the root of the problem is the Church.
What is the root of the problem? It is not the government, the police, or the municipality, but the very people who live and work beside us in our communities and sit in our pews.
Changing and improving the physical infrastructure around us is only addressing the fruit of the problem but changing the hearts of the people around us addresses the root of the problem.
Only by changing the hearts of people will we be able to bring about permanent solutions in our communities.
Is this not what Christ and the Bible has been teaching us all along?
Should the Church not be focusing more on reaching out and discipling people with the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ which is able to change a sinner into a saint?
Is this not the core business of the Church?
Has the Church been distracted from dealing with the root by focusing too much on the fruit?
It is good for us to speak out on issues and to do welfare programmes for the poor and needy.
These are important, but is it more important to focus on healing the heart and mind of the individual.
Why does most of the Church not want to focus on the core business of evangelism and discipleship anymore?
To me, the two main reasons are compromising leaders and selfishness.
There are too many church leaders who compromise the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ by preaching it in a convenient manner so as not to offend congregants or to challenge them to live right.
The reasons for this could be popularity or financial stability.
They say that in churches, people vote either with their feet or their finances.
We need church leaders who will not be moved by the changing physical, political or economic landscape, but by the pain, suffering and hopelessness that people are enduring right in front of us.
Leaders who turn a blind eye or avoid this God-given mandate of healing people are as much a part of the problems in society as anyone or anything else.
Selfishness is, of course, rampant in our communities today and we can see it in how isolated people are from each other, with high walls, electric fences, security gates etc.
The core character of the Church is not selfishness but selflessness.
We are called to lay down our lives for others.
I have personally seen what a massive positive change a little love can make in a community.
It is not the big things in life that have the greatest impact but the small acts of love, caring and sacrifice.
I will conclude by quoting from 1 John 4:19 which says, “We love Christ Jesus because He first loved us.”
If we want to see lasting change in our communities, we need church leaders and congregants who will decide to love first, just as the love of the Lord changes us.
The Church needs to return to loving Christ more than convenience, loving the Word (the Bible) more than the world, loving the individual more than the crowd, loving evangelism more than entertainment!
Only by doing this will we be able to root out the problems that plague our communities and be able to enjoy a life of peace and safety for all.
Russel Viljoen
Pastor at Ebenezer North
Source: TCN / Russell Viljoen
Date Added: 2024-09-30
Category: General News, TCN News, Issues - General, Issues - Social upliftment,
Back to News IndexDate Added: 2024-09-30
Category: General News, TCN News, Issues - General, Issues - Social upliftment,
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