On Being Gospel Centered Missionaries in A World of Suffering, part 3

We should want to do good to those who are suffering for many different reasons. We should want to do good to those who are suffering because it’s our new nature to want to do good. We should want to do good to those who are suffering because the God we worship is good. We should want to do good to those who are suffering because we are commanded to do good. But, ultimately, we should want to do good to those who are suffering because of the gospel.

Milton Vincent writes, “Like nothing else could ever do, the gospel instills in me a heart for the downcast, the poverty-stricken, and those in need of physical mercies, especially when such persons are of the household of faith. When I see persons who are materially poor, I instantly feel a kinship with them, for they are physically what I was spiritually when my heart was closed to Christ. Perhaps some of them are in their condition because of sin, but so was I. Perhaps they are unkind when I try to help them; but I, too, have been spiteful to God when He has sought to help me. Perhaps they are thankless and even abuse the kindness I show them, but how many times have I been thankless and used what God has given me to serve selfish ends? Perhaps a poverty-stricken person will be blessed and changed as a result of some kindness I show them. If so, God be praised for His grace through me. But if the person walks away unchanged by my kindness, then I still rejoice over the opportunity to love as God loves. Perhaps the person will repent in time; but for now, my heart is chastened and made wiser by the tangible depiction of what I myself have done to God on numerous occasions. The gospel reminds me daily of the spiritual poverty into which I was born and also of the staggering generosity of Christ towards me. Such reminders instill in me both a felt connection to the poor and a desire to show them the same generosity that has been lavished on me. When ministering to the poor with these motivations, I not only preach the gospel to them through word and deed, but I reenact the gospel to my own benefit as well.”

Perhaps this is why so many great gospel preachers throughout history have stressed the importance of caring for the poor. Charles Spurgeon once expressed his commitment to the vulnerable by saying, “I, as one of God’s ministers, will never cease to speak on behalf of the rights of the poor.” John Chrysostom challenged believers to connect their response to the poor to their relationship with God, explaining that “it is the poor man who holds out his hand, but it is God Himself who receives whatever you give to the poor.” John Owen exhorted the church to think carefully about how to care for the needy, writing “And it were well if all churches, and all the members of them, would wisely consider how eminent is this grace, how excellent is this duty, of making provision for the poor – how much the glory of Christ and honour of the gospel are concerned herein; for whereas, for the most part, it is looked on as an ordinary work, to be performed transiently and cursorily, scarce deserving any of the time which is allotted to the church’s public service and duties, it is indeed one of the most eminent duties of Christian societies, wherein the principal exercise of the second evangelical grace, namely, love, doth consist.” And Thomas Watson put an exclamation point on the importance of showing mercy, saying “Unmercifulness is the sin of the heathen. While you put off the affections of charity, you put off the badge of Christianity.” A badge is something that shows you are part of a certain group. The badge of Christianity are the affections of charity. In other words, Watson is saying, if you are not merciful, you are not identifying as a Christian.

That’s intense.

But not more intense than what James writes in James 1:27. He says, “Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this, to visit orphans and widows in their affliction.”

Now, think about that statement slowly.

We sometimes think of religion in negative terms. But we definitely shouldn’t here. James is talking about religious activity that pleases God. He calls it pure and undefiled. And not just in man’s eyes either, but God’s. James says religion that is pure and undefiled “before” or, you might say, in the sight of God, is “to visit orphans and widows in their affliction.” Visit means something much more than simply showing up and saying hello. One Greek dictionary defines it like this, “It is to take care of, to seek out someone, to tend. This term is frequently used for nursing the sick.” That’s why the New International Version translates it to look after. One author writes, “It never implies merely to visit in the usual sense, but instead it is always to be concerned about with a sense of responsibility for others.” Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this, to visit “orphans and widows.” Orphans and widows represent a class of the most vulnerable in society. We might summarize what James is saying like this, “Religious activity that God himself looks at as pleasing is taking care of hurting orphans and widows and the vulnerable when they are in trouble, showing radical sacrificial mercy to those who need it most.”

This connection between genuine religious activity and compassion might seem surprising, but compassion is always connected to worship. Worshiping God results in compassion, and compassion is a way we worship God. That’s part of what makes this kind of ministry so important.