Driving to work a few days ago, I heard a discussion on the radio about a book written recently by Pastor Tim Keller. According to the reporter, Pastor Keller believes many Christians see helping the poor as optional – something we do “out of the goodness of our hearts”. And something that if we do, we should be commended for…
Charities play to that line of thinking. Either through guilt or compassion, they try to engender in us a desire to make some small difference. To feel good about ourselves for having done anything to help those in need. As a result, many people volunteer at a local charity or donate a little money, particularly during the holidays. But how much are we thinking about the poor during the other 10 months of the year.
Keller’s point in all this is that according to the Bible, helping the poor is NOT an option. It is not charity, it’s our responsibility.
It’s not about our spare change or a couple days of our lives each year.
And it’s not an event.
It’s a lifestyle.
Meet The Need exists because we, like Keller, believe there’s a Biblical mandate to help the poor. We believe it’s wrong for Christians to buy luxuries for themselves while doing nothing to help those dying of starvation and preventable diseases. At the same time, we understand that many more Christians and churches would do more to help the poor if they know more about the actual needs.
Before Meet The Need, there was no way for churches to gather, filter and communicate opportunities to help those less fortunate to its members. That’s why Meet The Need set about fixing that broken process – there is now a communication channel for sharing and selecting ways that Christians can make a difference in the lives of others that fit each of our God-given skills, interests and possessions.
