Here’s part IV of my blog series that attempts to describe what an Every Nation church or campus ministry looks like. If you missed the first three posts, here they are:
- What is an Every Nation Church?
- What is a Christ-centered Church?
- What is a Spirit-empowered Church?
Every Nation Churches & Ministries exists to . . . Honor God and establish Christ-centered, Spirit-empowered, socially responsible churches and campus ministries in every nation.
What does a “socially responsible” church or campus ministry look like?
First of all, it looks different in every culture and community, because the needs and opportunities are different in every culture and in every community. What’s important is that we demonstrate the compassion of Christ to hurting people.
Here are a few questions that all pastors and campus missionaries should think about:
What if our church or campus ministry suddenly vanished from the earth—would our community even notice? Would they care?
Do we engage our community and culture in a way that they know we are here and want us to be here?
Unfortunately, many communities would not even notice if a church or campus ministry disappeared. But we are called to engage our cultures and communities and to establish churches and campus ministries that are socially responsible.
- In Manila, being socially responsible means, among other things, that we fight poverty through education by providing scholarships to disadvantaged youth through the Real Life Foundation.
- In Nashville, DC, Orlando, Jacksonville, and Raleigh it means we provide an after-school program for at-risk students that focuses on academics, character development, and life skills through Youth Life Learning Centers in the poorest areas of our cities.
- In Johannesburg, it means we take care of orphans through Baby Haven.
- In Cape Town and other South African cities, it means we help develop self-reliance through pre-schools, adult training programs, and health care services through the Thembalitsha Foundation.
These are just a few of the examples of what “social responsibility” looks like in Every Nation Churches & Ministries in different communities and cultures.
A couple of Bible verses about social responsibility:
Matthew 24:40 Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.
Proverbs 19:17 He who is kind to the poor lends to the LORD, and he will reward him for what he has done.
What are you doing for the least? Are you kind to the poor in your community? What should social responsibility look like in your context?