Social Evangelicals

[Xan]

This is a serious look at what Christians should be doing, and it is making me think. It also gives a little bit of history of why we are where we are, but it is quite a bit of a broad brush. That aside, it is a good read and something all Christians need to heed.

http://musiccityoracle.blogspot.com/2008/1...-should-do.html

[Fraught]

i'm skeptical.

i can too clearly imagine the time and money expended in overcoming the red tape and the protests that would be a part of such a large venture. i don't know that we could accomplish much more in a large chunk like this than we do right now in the many small chunks. would it generate more publicity? of course. but don't forget where we are. publicity is probably not what we really want.

that's my 2 cents worth, anyway.

[Smalcald]

What he is suggesting in the article is great: start Christian schools for all people in the worst areas and get into health care in a big way. The Catholics have been doing that in the US for a couple of hundred years, it is not a new idea, but it is a good one that Evengelicals have not always been invovled in.

[Xan]

maybe if all christians no matter what denomination they may be all got together and prayed over this we could turn this world back to god

That's exactly what the blogger had clarified in his comments- have it interdenominational. Question is: how is something of that magnitude going to be done?

[Smalcald]

It's a fine line.

We can learn from the Catholics on this. If you want to go into health care it often starts out mission driven and very impact full. Most of the big Catholic Hospitals started out serving the poor and destitute and were run by Nuns. Today they are simply big business not really much different from any other hospitals except they won't perform abortions or do IVF, they still often mainly serve the poor, but they really have lost their Catholic identity. Most people going there often don't even realize it is a "Christian" hospital.

Now I think the Catholic Education model is much better. Here you establish schools within poor areas that need schools, but you give it a real Christian educational mission. The schools are funded by the congregations that they are affiliated with and sometimes they can get aid from other sources and hopefully some tuition from some of those they serve.

I think large evangelical Churches could do this. They could afford to establish high quality Christian schools in poor neighborhoods serving anyone who could meet the acceptance requirements whatever those would be. Now they would require that everyone attending pray and go to Church everyday in school, which is what many of the Catholic Schools do. But I am thinking of places like Dallas, San Antonio, Phoenix, LA etc, places with very large mega churches who exist alongside some very poor communities, in these areas it could be done.

It is going to be hard and probably not advisable for small congregations to attempt to get into this work, but then again their mission is different and they are called by God to do that mission.

I don

[Xan]

The mega churches don't set up schools for the underprivileged.

[Smalcald]

That is too bad, it would be a wonderful ministry.

The Schools would not have to be just for the underprivalaged but for all who wish to come, they could be quality education so I would assume many of the members kids would come, and in fact that would be a key element of it working. Good schools will have a mix of backgrounds but one mission and doctrine, this mission could be the Gospel.