I would like to tell you about Lachie, she was forty-something years old and had no experience of Christianity in her home, grew up in a youth housing system and is the product of two decades of failed institutional reform. Diet of TV shows, History Channel documentaries, a little spiritualism and a cocktail of conspiracy theories about the meaning of life. Aachie likes to talk about God, but usually when he’s drunk or somewhere with his face full of drugs.
In her moments of lucidity, Lachie is not sure that God exists, after all, science has shown that there is no God, is she?If you ask him how science has done it, he’s not sure, but he’s convinced that this has something to do with evolution or a big bang.
- But one thing Lachie knows for sure is that if God really does exist.
- He certainly doesn’t care about people like him.
- His life is proof of this.
- If God really exists.
- He must not love us very much.
- Because He allows us to suffer and allows bad things to happen.
- If God really exists.
- All Lachie can hope for is to live in the present moment and hope that God will forgive him.
- Then.
I have worked with street children in Brazil and residents of sleeping cities in Scotland. And in my experience, these two groups are surprisingly similar in their reasoning about God. Both have a supernaturally innate worldview. They have no problem believing that a supernatural form of the entity (or “God”) exists. Understand what is happening here: these groups do not seek to establish a relationship with God. The Apostle Paul clearly states that “the tendency of the flesh is enmity against God” (Romans 8. 7). But you won’t find many intellectually convinced atheists in the developments or on the streets of Brazil.
The fact is not that people do not believe in God, the problem lies in the kind of god they believe in.
Because of these various misconceptions about God, it is important that we proclaim his character among the poor. We must present a God who is holy, who will hold each person accountable, something that is a direct attack on the laissez-faire approach of life. We must present a known God who in Christ has been perfectly revealed to sinners. It’s a real counterattack on the stimuli of culture. This God is worthy of our service. It will replace the self as the primary object of service and worship. When we know this God and he is known, we gain a great purpose of transformation and self-confidence in our lives.
Another example is Rob, a former heroin addict in his 40s, a criminal, a thief, Rob did what he wanted, when he wanted, without even considering the consequences, he stole, lied and hurt people from left to right. to think, there is no God and life makes no sense. Life is the survival of the fittest.
One day Rob heard about God and his eyes opened to see God’s character: infinite holiness, perfect love, and relentless anger against sin and sinners. This knowledge has transformed the life Rob. Il and is now submitted to its creator and judge. he understands that God’s loving interest and personal care for him exist in harmony with God’s holiness. As a result, Rob no longer delys into a story without a script. Today, he lives with determination, hope, and direction. No more crimes, he is no longer absent in his children’s lives, now he lives responsiblely as someone who knows that his Heavenly Father loves him, cares for him, and expects him to live like his son.
All this change in Rob’s life, the kind of change that social programs seek to achieve (correctly), is due to the change in Rob’s theology. Now he understands who God is and that has made a difference.
Not presenting God’s character in a faithful and biblical way has important ramifications in ministry to the poor, whoever they may be.
COMPLETELY ALLEVIATING POVERTY WITHOUT THE LOCAL CHURCH IS IMPOSSIBLE
In recent years, Christians and Christian organizations have increased their interest in helping people suffering from poverty and misery, but this renewed interest in poverty reduction is doomed to failure if it has no roots in the local church, which is God’s established way of attracting the miserable. people in a transformative relationship with him.
Emphasizing the priority of the gospel, Mez McConnell and Mike McKinley, both local church pastors in poverty-affected areas, offer biblical leadership and practical strategies for faithfully establishing, revitalizing, and cultivating churches in difficult places, in our own community, and elsewhere around the world. World.
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