The Fallacy of Human Compassion

Not long ago I had the privilege of working for a human services organization. I was having a conversation with one of the managers there, who happens to be a very good friend of mine, and we were discussing some of the dynamics of the services that the organization rendered to the community. In the course of the conversation my friend became rather "perturbed" at some of my comments about the organization that we were both working for (I think perturbed is a fair description). As the conversation ensued, I believe the manager, who is also a devout Christian, began to understand the vantage point of my comments. Basically my perspective was that just because an organization does good deeds doesn't mean that those deeds are godly nor do they represent the Will of God.


This is an issue that the church is going to have to confront, internally and externally, in the very near future. As the children of God we must come to understand that not all good deeds are godly. There are a lot of things that non-profit corporations do and even a lot of churches, that help people and meet certain needs, but do not represent nor reflect the Divine Will of God. Now, most conventional (and unfortunately Christian) thinking revolves around the belief that if a person is helping people and meeting the needs of others, then this is the Will of God. I want to go on record and make it clear that this is not the case.


It is not the job of the church to do good deeds, it is the job of the church to obey God. Let me say it again: it is not the job or the call of the church to do good deeds, it is the job of the church to obey God. Does this mean we are not to do good deeds? Of course not. The point I'm making is that you don't develop a ministerial agenda that puts helping people above executing under the leadership of the Holy Spirit the Divine Will of God.


Why is this an issue? Because there are many churches that are actually "copying" the work of non-profit and philanthropic organizations in the name of ministry, when this is not the will of God for the church and the Body of Christ. Why is the church called to ministry? Why are we as Christians called to minister to the poor and the least of these? So that the love of God may manifested in the earth and souls are won to Christ. The purpose of ministry is to advance the Kingdom of God. Part of the advancement of the Kingdom is that people will get to know Jesus in the pardon of their sins and accept Him as their personal Lord and Savior. This is the primary objective of the church engaging in what we call outreach ministry.


You have a lot of organizations that do a lot of good and help a lot of people, but are they lifting up the Name of Jesus? You have a lot of government agencies that are truly addressing community needs, but is God getting the Glory? Can I even "talk" about Jesus and Jehovah in certain environments that address community concerns? If I can't lift up the name of Jesus, if I can't openly testify about my God, if I can't share the Good News of the Gospel that souls may be saved, then no matter how good the work is that is being done it is not of God.


This is a stand that the church is going to have to take. We're moving into a season where people are going to be "desperate" for help. God is going to provide us with the resources from Heaven to meet needs in His Name. But we can't be ashamed to give God the Glory. We can't be bashful about proclaiming that we're meeting the needs of the hungry, the homeless, the sick and diseased in obedience to Jesus the Christ, the King of kings and Lord of lords. There will be a subtle attempt to get the Christian community to downplay who we're working for and just emphasize "helping people". No! We're helping people to glorify God (Matthew 5). Acts of charity and service that are not designed to glorify God and fulfill His redemptive purpose to win souls to Christ demonstrates the Fallacy of Human Compassion.