"The first is the church that essentially ignores issues related to God's concern for the poor while focusing almost exclusively on personal evangelism and personal growth. I call it the personal piety church."
"The second type of church recognizes compassion and justice as important and forms a compassion committee or social concerns ministry as one of the many ministries within the life of the church. While this group represents legitimate issues, those who participate are a small minority within the church and often feel they need to compete with the other ministries of the church for significance. I call it the social justice committee church."
"I call the third type of church compassionate to the core. This is the church in which compassion, reconciliation, and justice are core values that permeate every aspect of church life...This is the church which the leadership has come to understand and embrace the centrality of God's heart for justice in their understanding of the good news of the gospel. Promoting both personal godliness and social justice is core to the church's mission, vision, and values. Leaders and members emphasize both in every aspect of church life. Spiritual disciplines include justice and compassion activities as well as personal Bible study and prayer."
Psalm 89:14 Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne; love and faithfulness go before you.
Where is your church on this 1-2-3 continuum? Where are you?
(Arloa's book is amazing. I'm going to buy it for several who sit on our Orchard-Harvest Partnership Team. I encourage you to read it. I've been lingering in the pages, and I highly recommend it to you.)
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