Jitterbugging for Jesus

Capitalism fails the church when people who don’t tithe say the church should take care of the poor.”

— Rev. Morgan Guyton at “Mercy Not Sacrifice”

The argument is that churches should provide health care and take care of the poor. So assuming that you attend church and faithfully tithe, how much is your church doing to provide for people in need?

Being a genuinely political conservative, I agree wholeheartedly, 100 percent, with the conservative argument that churches and faith-based traditions and organizations, not the government, should take care of the poor and sick.

But you have to wonder how many people who make that argument attend churches or houses of worship on any regular basis. I wonder how many conservatives who rail about government welfare are conservatives who tithe and give generously to their churches or faith charities.

How many people in your own church actually roll up their sleeves and encounter the poor and needy, hear their stories and provide directly for them in any serious, Christian-like way in terms of love or money or both?

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United Methodist Rev. Morgan Guyton challenges us to think about “Six ways that capitalism fails the church” at “Mercy Not Sacrifice”–his blog whose name is derived from Hosea 6: 6.

Here’s a sampling:

“If you don’t think that your hard-earned tax dollars should be used to help poor people get access to health care, then don’t say that you think ‘the church should take care of it’ unless money that you put in your church’s offering plate has contributed to adding a health clinic to your church basement with an MRI machine and an operating table, plus an MD and a couple of RN’s added to your permanent church staff.

“If you don’t think that unemployed people who are actively seeking work should receive any money from the federal government, then I presume your church has its own private Civilian Conservation Corps by which you hire unemployed people to work at a living wage to make improvements in your city.”

And today’s “Big amen of the day to that!” goes to young Rev. Guyton for this provocative thought:

“Instead of using ‘the church’ as a talking point to argue that the government shouldn’t provide for the poor, why not first try to figure out how your church could take some of the load off of the government’s hands?”

Capitalism can certainly serve the poor through the church and faith traditions–and as far as I’m concerned it should. But the church and faith traditions sure don’t exist to serve capitalism, as so many seem to think these days.

Click here to read the whole enchilada from Rev. Guyton.