“A Balance Of Good”

Wednesday, February 13, 2013

     Our preacher is more involved with a local civic organization than he is in growing our local church.  We don't have elders, and many of the men are also members of the civic group.  I find this to be a contradiction in service, but he says that there are things the church isn't authorized to do that this group can, like caring for needy non-saints.  But if more time is spent with that group than with our own, can that be right?

Sincerely,
Second Best

Dear Second Best,

There isn’t anything wrong with Christians (and preachers are just Christians, too) with being involved with philanthropic work outside of the church, but that doesn’t mean that a balance isn’t important.  Gal 6:10 says that we should do good to all men, but especially the church.  The church should receive the first of our labors because it is our eternal family in Christ… but that doesn’t mean we should neglect doing good to all.  We can’t speak to the balance the men in your congregation are having in their lives, but we can tell you this isn’t a matter of right and wrong; it is a matter of wisdom.  On a positive note, we can think of worse problems than good people struggling over what good work to do.

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