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Each one of us is called to participate in the life of a local
church. While this participation can be in leadership or
membership, each of us is responsible to participate at some
level in helping our congregation to be everything Scripture
calls it to be, including fulfilling its biblical mandate to
care for the poor. [14]
North American Christians are simply not doing enough. We are
the richest people ever to walk the face of the earth. Period.
Yet, most of us live as though there is nothing terribly wrong
in the world...We do not necessarily need to feel guilty about
our wealth. But we do need to get up every morning with a deep
sense that something is terribly wrong with the world and yearn
and strive to do something about it. There is simply not enough
yearning and striving going on. [28]
Often lacking an appreciation of the comprehensive implications
of the kingdom of God, many missionaries have focused on
evangelism to save people’s souls but have sometimes neglected
to “make disciples of all nations.” Converts need to be trained
in a biblical worldview that understands the implications of
Christ’s lordship for all of life and that seeks to answer the
question: If Christ is Lord of all, how do we do farming,
business, government, family, art, etc., to the glory of God?
[47]
One of the biggest problems in many poverty-alleviation efforts
is that their design and implementation exacerbates the poverty
of being of the economically rich—their god-complexes—and the
poverty of being of the economically poor—their feelings of
inferiority and shame. [65]
We must be humble and must constantly reexamine ourselves in the
light of Scripture. But we must not shy away from declaring
biblical truth, for our confidence rests in the power of the
Word of God and in the active presence of the Holy Spirit to
overcome our inadequacies. [96]
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