The Lord's church with social and humanitarian sense

elpastor (73)memberin HeartChurch • 3 years ago

We cannot forget the earthly ministry of our Lord Jesus Christ, who, based on love, was always concerned with helping orphans, widows, the sick and the most needy. It was not a self-centered ministry, but a ministry with a social and humanitarian sense. The call for the church today is to return to the ancient ways of the early church and put the love of Christ first, to reach out to the most vulnerable in society.

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Returning to the ancient ways of the early church of the first century brings us back to the filling of the Holy Spirit and to look at the Lord's Church united in the spirit of unity. All Christians were united and shared things in common, without selfishness or any kind of pettiness. The Church filled with the Holy Spirit led the brethren to divest themselves of their goods and give them to those in need. To be filled with the love of God and to look at the needs of the neighbor.

The early church focused on unity and helping the most vulnerable brethren and having favor with the people of the community.

32 And the multitude of those who had believed were of one heart and of one soul; and no one claimed credit for anything he possessed, but they had all things in common.
33 And with great power the apostles bore witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and abundant grace fell on them all.
34 So that there was not a needy person among them, for as many as were possessors of lands or houses sold them and brought the price of what was sold
35 and laid it at the apostles' feet, and it was distributed to each one according to his need. Acts 4:32-35 Reina-Valera 1960 (RVR1960).

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The unity of the early church was so powerful that all who believed in Jesus were of one heart and soul. They always tried to be united and to be attentive to the needs of some of the brethren in the church. When they saw that there were needs among the brethren, some who had property and inheritances, they would sell their property and bring all the money from the sale for the apostles to administer to the neediest brethren. This teaching is impressive. In the church of the first century there was no selfishness, love of neighbor was put into practice.

The Lord's church today needs to consider the principles and values of the early church and develop a broader social and humanitarian sense that penetrates the heart of society and the community, as a living example that Christ loves sinners and the poorest in society.

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The Bible says that in the Christian community of the first century there were no brothers with material needs, because there were always brothers in the church who reached out to the poorest and helped them.
To get rid of property is not easy, however, when we are filled with the Holy Spirit, this passes to the background and we give more importance to the love of our neighbor. What was practiced in the early church must be rescued and applied in today's church. We cannot see the needs of our neighbor and turn a blind eye and pass by as if nothing happened. We must develop in ourselves a spirit with a social and humanitarian sense to help those who sadly suffer many needs in this life.

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The current situation in which humanity lives, demands of the Lord's church, to be more active, dynamic and operative in the social field. It is necessary to go out of the four walls and penetrate into the depths of extreme poverty in which multitudes of people find themselves. The eye of God travels the whole earth and observes the heart of the Church in order to lead and guide her in the true practice of love of neighbor.
It is not a matter of seeing the needy, but of putting oneself in their place and proceeding to act with the love of Christ to win souls for the kingdom of heaven, through a social and humanitarian sense.