Faith, Society & Gerson

I was on a conference call this last week with a small group of people with the Center for Foreign Relations. Michael Gerson, former speechwriter for President Bush and now a senior fellow at the Council discussed President Bush’s approach to development in the world and faith. He recently did the November 13^th issue of Newsweek on "A New Social Gospel." Several things stood out in my mind from the discussion:

First, faith from the government standpoint is a means but from faith-based groups is an end. I couldn’t help but think of what we teach at NorthWood, "We serve not to convert, but because we have been converted."

Second, the millennium campaign from the UN is trying to provide some skids for people of all persuasions to work in the world, especially the church. Yet, sadly, most people in the church have allowed the UN to become a political issue as opposed to an engagement opportunity.

Third, an observation. Too much of what was discussed was about organizations and the government and how they partner. I thought it was just the church that didn’t get how societies are developed --I was wrong. The day is now when individuals want to engage society and will do so by using their wealth and vocations. If they wait for the government, in terms of funding or connections, they can forget it. The church must not be an organization that funnels things through it. Instead, it must be a clearinghouse that connects people with people and domains of society globally.

Fourth, another observation. I wonder if the church realizes how she has marginalized herself? Because we have limited everything around the discussion of abortion and gay rights, we’ve ignored what the Bible teaches about caring for the poor, the disadvantaged, the suffering. I listened as a guy on the news with some religious right group was trashing Rick Warren for having Barak O’Bama speak at his church. The guy said, "First abortion, and then we deal with the gay rights and then we’ll get to the social issues of poverty, etc." And how many more years is that? And, yeah, like right--I believe that because of what I’ve seen! He reminds me of pastors who say, "Yes we’ll engage our area and then the world!" No, you don’t prioritize unrighteousness--sin is sin. You deal with what you’re confronted with and we have a lot of suffering that, as the church, we’re simply ignoring. Frankly, if we were more concerned about the poor, maybe it would increase our credibility and give us more leverage and scale at addressing things like abortion.