“But the truth is that there is enough time and enough wealth to go around. The people in the churches every Sunday outnumber the people who are on the streets and the number of people who are on welfare. If the church took up the responsibility of caring for the poor, of living internationally, of participating in the unspeakable gift of giving, our world would look much different from the way it does today. Justice is a stewardship issue, caring for the poor is a stewardship issue, loving our neighbor as we love ourselves is a stewardship issue. We have resources, but our priorities aren’t there yet. If I could call the church to task on one more thing in the years I have left, it would be to start stewarding our resources in a way that adheres to the will of God and is in line with His kingdom. We can look to the apostle Paul’s example: ‘I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me’ (Gal. 2:20). I long to see the church give its power and privilege the way Jesus did when He came to earth to give us the greatest of gifts. Now that would be incarnational living.”
John M. Perkins, Dream With Me: Race, Love, and the Struggle We Must Win. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2017, page 101.
photo by GAC
Gary Chorpenning's Notebooks 