A church can’t be a church without a concern for the poor and marginalized.
That doesn’t mean that a church needs to be composed mostly of the poor or marginalized. But if the gospel is good news to the poor, then the church better be good news to the poor.
The temptation of Americanized Evangelical Christianity is to pay attention to the bottom-line financially. So instead of reaching all your neighbors, you use the “homogenous unit principle” (this is how business franchising started) so that you can go further faster and finely tailor your church to the needs of a few. Naturally, this leads to more comfortable churches in the suburbs.
A more biblical mandate is this: pay attention to the bottom-line spiritually and God will take care of the bottom-line financially. In fact, isn't this EXACTLY what Matthew says? “Seek first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things will be added unto you.”
A church without MERCY is a church without Christ. A church without an ongoing concern for those continually left-behind is a church without an ongoing concern for Christ.
Jesus said “whatever you do unto the least of these you do unto me.'“ So you’ve heard of the Great Commission. And you’ve heard of the Great Commandment. Well this is the Great Compassion. And without it a church is drifting from Jesus. Renewal is a church of MERCY because of how God has been merciful to us.
[Thank you for reading! If you are looking for a church in Boston or churches in Boston please consider giving Renewal Church a try!]