"What Are My Obligations?"

Scripture Passage

Isaiah 58:1-63:14

Scripture Focus

“No, this is the kind of fasting I want:

Free those who are wrongly imprisoned;
     lighten the burden of those who work for you.
Let the oppressed go free,
     and remove the chains that bind people.
Share your food with the hungry,
     and give shelter to the homeless.
Give clothes to those who need them,
     and do not hide from relatives who need your help.
                                            (Isaiah 58:6-7 NLT)

Observation

What are the practical social responsibilities of Biblical Christianity?

I know, that’s kind of a loaded question—but it’s what I ask myself after reading Isaiah 58-63. Isaiah has rebuked the Israelites for fasting “to please themselves” (58:3) and challenges them that God wants nothing to do with that kind of fasting. Rather, the fasting God looks for (from these Israelites, at least) is much more practical—“free the wrongly imprisoned, lighten the burden of workers, share food, give shelter, and stop hiding from relatives who need your help!” (58:6-7) (For some reason, that last one makes me laugh out loud.)

Until fairly recently, most Christians I’ve known (including me, myself, and I) have actually shied away from a strong emphasis on practical acts of compassion. That was a reaction, I think, to the dangers of a social (only) gospel that addressed physical needs but neglected spiritual realities, and perhaps rooted in an expectation that people should “help themselves”. But the neglect of social ministry is changing in conservative Christianity—with good reason, I think. Indeed, the very challenge toward practical acts of compassion and deliverance that Isaiah lays out in chapter 58 is picked up in chapter 61—a passage to which Jesus lays claim when describing His ministry in Luke 4.

All this forms a personal challenge for me. What are my own individual responsibilities…and what are my leadership responsibilities toward the congregation I serve? How can I/we make a tangible difference in practical ways that are not just patchwork responses but genuinely transformative acts…both materially and spiritually effective? “Teach us, Lord, how to serve practical needs in spiritually transformative ways!”

***

If you’d like to read a brief, somewhat technical (my wife says) paper I’ve written about the growth and development of social ministry within the Assemblies of God, you can find it here.