The Work of the Church in Society: An Introduction

The early Christians, or “Atheists” as they were called in the first century, had many criticisms leveled against them. They were accused of being cannibals, due to their partaking of the “body” and the “blood.” They were called fornicators, because they greeted one another with a holy kiss and called each other “brother” and “sister” etc… Yet one thing that even the toughest critics had to admit about the early church was this: they were compassionate.

Over and over again throughout the Scriptures God commands us to care for the poor, the widows, the orphans, and the defenseless. Yet as one looks at the work of the Church we have too often gone to one extreme or the other. Either embracing the Social Gospel or ignoring compassion entirely. Thankfully there is a growing movement in the Church, particularly in the PCA, to obey these biblical mandates. Over the next couple of posts I want to look at these commands and see what they mean for both the Church as a whole, and individual believers.