We often hear and read that the most Biblical way to care for orphans is through the local church and church planting. Agreed.
Orphaned and abandoned children are a tragic result of sin. The Gospel is the answer to sin. More gospel-preaching churches are desperately needed everywhere. No argument there.
But I can’t help but see a disconnect somewhere with this line of thinking.
If the answer to an orphan problem is church planting, then why do so many churches seem indifferent to the needs of the fatherless in their communities? How is this crucial point of Christianity being so badly neglected by the same churches that believe that a gospel-preaching church is the best solution for orphan care?
I know of many churches and individuals who do care and love orphans deeply…but yet, there are so many others who don’t care or just simply do not want to know enough to care.
I don’t understand.
If we, the church, are content to allow godless institutions to care for the fatherless–a privilege that was given to us by God–we are a church with a gaping hole right in its heart. We aren’t just ignoring the needs of the most vulnerable among us, we are consenting to their suffering–in Jesus’ name.
A church plant on the foreign field may be thriving, and that’s wonderful! But if it is at the same time ignoring a generation of fatherless children, it is, without even trying, raising up a bitter, broken, hardened generation that does not know nor care about Christ or his Gospel. It is cutting itself off at the knees. (This is as true in the United States as it is in foreign countries.)
We cannot claim that church planting is the answer to an orphan crisis unless the churches that we plant beat with God’s heart for the fatherless.
Not every Christian is called to do this in the exact same way, but every Christian is called to do it in some way. If you are a Christian, you are called.
The Gospel IS the answer! The hungry and fatherless need the Bread of Life even more than they need physical comforts!
But, how can we say we care about their souls, if we are willing to let their hearts and bodies suffer and starve?
The answer is: we can’t say that.
If we truly believe that the most Biblical way to care for the fatherless is through church planting and the local church, then that belief needs to go further than easy words spoken from our lips but not our hearts. It shouldn’t stop at the church door, it should begin there.
We have the Answer! We have the Bread and the Water! We have a Refuge! We have a Home! We have a Healer! We have a Family! We, who were once orphans ourselves, have a Father! We have Hope!
We have Jesus.
And Jesus cares just as deeply for that broken boy sleeping on a filthy orphanage floor as he cares for me on my clean sheets and pillow.
Church, let’s step it up. We’re called to do more than preach about the Gospel from an impressive church building.
We’re called to go and live and warm and fill and walk and love in the light of that Gospel.
Called to take that light and spread it like a warm blanket of hope over the estimated 153 million children who will go to sleep tonight without a mom or dad to tuck them into bed.
We are called to care.
James 2:14-20|Matthew 19:21 | Matthew 22:38-40 | Matt. 25 | Mark 10:21 | Luke 17:2 | James 1:27 | Matthew 4:23 | Matt. 11:5 | Mark 13:10 | Mark 16:15 | Luke 4:18 | Acts 3:6 | Romans 10:15 | Ephesians 3:6 |Psalm 82 | Proverbs 21:13
God touched my heart tears ago, it’s not enough just to be their Sunday Scool teacher…I must become their connection to the Lord. His hands, his feet and His heart. That sounds like..just love them and it will be fine. Nope! You must rely on the Lord minute by minute because the system in the US. Is very broken. It is so full of children needing help that they are placed just until they can be placed again. God let me know that He was in our first placement but said be ready…it will be hard, unfair, heart-renching, but don’t give up…this is MY child and I will work in their heart. I had to fight for my house not to become a 10 minute bus stop for children…they deserve more than that. They need a commitment from God-loving people who will stand up for them and show them how the Lord seeks us out. Love them like the Lord loves us on our worst days. If they can go home…be there as a support…if they can’t adopt them as Christ adopted us into His family and made things right. We need to be the hands and feet of Christ. There are so many ways to help a child…food, clothing, school supplies….but what they need is a Christ-like person to show them Him each day…the permanency of His love and commitment to them. It is a blessing as my 3 adopted children and many Sunday School children call me mom or Miss Sharon, Shar-Bear…but my favorite is when they call the Lord by name and know that they are loved by Him.
Your heart for children is a beautiful picture of God’s love for each of us. God bless you for the love you have given to so many and for standing up for kids without a voice. ❤️