J. Jude,
Your reply rocked my socks, thanks.

JTapp,

I would stop short of saying the church has an “obligation” to do Point Two, but I think “meeting the physical, emotional, economic, and spiritual needs of those around” us is one of the many ways Christians are called to respond to God’s grace.

When Christians emphasize meeting the material and emotional needs of others, they are usually dismissed as proponents of a “social gospel,” a derogative term that implies Jesus Christ has been usurped and replaced with a call to social action, but I don’t think that’s quite fair. Christians who seek to meet the needs of others in physical ways are not doing so because they believe the point of the Gospel is social action or that the Gospel itself is just a framework for social action, and neither are they doing so because they think their salvation rests in their “good works.” Rather, they are doing so because they believe that meeting the needs of those around them is something they are called to do out of faithfulness to God.

It is true that in a sinful word, no individual, no church, no organization will ever achieve an end to suffering or an end to hunger or an end to poverty, but I don’t think Christians who minister to others in tangible, physical ways do so because they actually believe their efforts will eradicate sadness, and even if they’re deluded enough to believe they can, they know their salvation does not rest in successes that are merely tangible and physical.

Similarly, Christians are called to live out God’s commandments, as expressed in the Bible, in regard to sex, but sexual ethics are not the focal point of Christianity, and even if we all achieved a kind of perfect sexual purity, our salvation does not rest in that. That said, I’ve never heard anyone accuse a pastor of proffering a “sexual gospel” when that pastor preaches at length about God’s standards for sexual purity and sexual conduct.

I would also say the church absolutely should respond in faithfulness to God’s grace by meeting the physical or emotional or economic needs of others whether these in need are believers or not. The ethics we practice in regard to how we treat others is not about who they are; it’s about who we are. Otherwise, ethics aren’t ethics; they’re just… hobbies.

The principles also said there was an obligation toward good works, however.

I think we are too eager to search the Scripture to find excuses for #1-7.