Role of Social Service and Charity in Christianity
In Christianity, salvation is everything. If there is one non-negotiable thing in Christianity, it is the hope and promise of salvation through faith.
"At the heart of Christian faith is the reality and hope of salvation in Jesus Christ. Christian faith is faith in the God of salvation revealed in Jesus of Nazareth. The Christian tradition has always equated this salvation with the transcendent, eschatological fulfillment of human existence in a life freed from sin, finitude, and mortality and united with the triune God. This is perhaps the non-negotiable item of Christian faith. What has been a matter of debate is the relation between salvation and our activities in the world."
— Min, Anselm Kyongsuk. Dialectic of Salvation: Issues in Theology of Liberation. Albany, N.Y.: State University of New York Press, 1989, page 79)
Can people achieve salvation by works? What kind of works? Any works which are good deeds or works in the sense of fulfilling God's commandments? Christians often claim that social service is a distinguishing characteristic of their religion of love. They are quick to point out all the charitable organizations that they run and the funds that they actively donate to/raise for those organizations. Since salvation is one and the only ultimate goal for Christians, social service, to be a value for Christians, should be a means to salvation in Christianity. If it is not, it cannot be of any value to Christians.
That salvation comes by the mere act of belief is stated in the New Testament:
Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life. But those who do not obey the Son will never have that life. They cannot get away from God’s anger.” John 3:36
I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. John 15:5-6The Bible is also clear that salvation cannot be by both grace and works. If salvation is possible by works, grace is pointless. If salvation is possible only by grace, what is the real motivation for works?
It gets even more explicit that grace of Jesus removes all sins. Thus, following commands of God is not required at all for salvation.And if he chose them by grace, then it is not what they have done that made them his people. If they could be made his people by what they did, his gift of grace would not really be a gift. Romans 11:6
But God has a way to make people right, and it has nothing to do with the law. He has now shown us that new way, which the law and the prophets told us about. God makes people right through their faith in Jesus Christ. He does this for all who believe in Christ. Everyone is the same. All have sinned and are not good enough to share God’s divine greatness. They are made right with God by his grace. This is a free gift. They are made right with God by being made free from sin through Jesus Christ. God gave Jesus as a way to forgive people’s sins through their faith in him. God can forgive them because the blood sacrifice of Jesus pays for their sins. Romans 3:21-26
Matthew 7:21-23 clarifies that not all Christians who hold faith in Jesus gain salvation. Their rejection, however, is NOT FAILURE TO DO POSITIVE ACTION BUT PARTICIPATING IN NEGATIVE ACTIONS in the name of God. Thus, social service as a positive action will not save the faithful. However, fake faith healers who claim miracles in the name of Jesus will be denied salvation.
Matthew 7:21-23
Not everyone who calls me Lord will enter God’s kingdom. The only people who will enter are those who do what my Father in heaven wants. On that last Day many will call me Lord. They will say, ‘Lord, Lord, by the power of your name we spoke for God. And by your name we forced out demons and did many miracles.’ Then I will tell those people clearly, ‘Get away from me, you people who do wrong. I never knew you.’
Romans 6 takes an interesting spin where Paul comes out with an interesting and essential question:
Romans 6:1-2
So do you think we should continue sinning so that God will give us more and more grace? Of course not! Our old sinful life ended. It’s dead. So how can we continue living in sin?Romans 6:20-22
In the past you were slaves to sin, and you did not even think about doing right. You did evil things, and now you are ashamed of what you did. Did those things help you? No, they only brought death. But now you are free from sin. You have become slaves of God, and the result is that you live only for God. This will bring you eternal life.
Paul is saying that a Christian before turning to Christ was a slave of sin but after turning to Christ they are slaves if God and good. This position seems to suggest that a Christian should also mend ways from bad to good. But that is not quite what it is saying. The statement is not prescriptive but descriptive. Thus, if a person takes to sin, he cannot be a Christian. But if all humans are sinners and cannot avoid sin and therefore need Jesus to be their savior, that means they cannot avoid sins even after accepting Jesus as their savior. Romans 6 makes the situation impossible unless we accept that it is a normative position. That is Paul is asking Christians to live only a good life. However, that is not a necessity for salvation.
John MacArthur writes, clearly showing his Calvinism:
“The point is not that God guarantees security to everyone who will say he accepts Christ, but rather that those whose faith is genuine will prove their salvation is secure by persevering to the end in the way of righteousness” (The Gospel According to Jesus [Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1988], p.98).
Others disagree. they say, "God does not grant the sinner salvation based on the kind of life he lives. If God granted salvation on the basis of life we live, none of us would qualify for salvation. Living the right kind of life is the fruit of salvation, but never the cause."
No doubt there are quotes of Jesus in the Bible where he advises his followers to choose to serve than to be served. Jesus was asking his followers to be kind but never suggested kindness as a means to salvation.
No doubt there are quotes of Jesus in the Bible where he advises his followers to choose to serve than to be served. Jesus was asking his followers to be kind but never suggested kindness as a means to salvation.
The other ten followers heard this and were angry with the two brothers. So Jesus called the followers together. He said, “You know that the rulers of the non-Jewish people love to show their power over the people. And their important leaders love to use all their authority over the people. But it should not be that way with you. Whoever wants to be your leader must be your servant. Whoever wants to be first must serve the rest of you like a slave. Do as I did: The Son of Man did not come for people to serve him. He came to serve others and to give his life to save many people.” Matthew 20:24-28There are three serious challenges to the claim that social service is associated with Christian salvation either as a cause or as an effect.
- In practice, Christian "social service", almost always, goes hand in hand with conversion efforts suggesting that social need is used as a means to engage and convert. The motive is readily evident - not their own salvation through works, but hope of salvation for others. Such a hope is justified only if good works alone cannot bring satisfaction and God's grace alone can bring salvation.
- History is replete with evidence of Christian establishment (including Popes) involved in inhuman acts. If they were saved because they accepted Jesus, and salvation guaranteed good reflected life, where did such inhuman acts come from?
- Scripturally, Jesus does not say much for social service in matters of salvation which is the only promise for becoming a Christian.
On (2), I will not elaborate but offer a recollection of the poignant challenge by Christopher Hitchens to the Christian claim of a moral high ground:
You have to propose a right action committed or a morally right statement made that could not have been performed or uttered by a non-believer. Then there is corollary challenge where you are challenged to find a wicked action undertaken or a wicked statement made by a believer because of and only because of their belief (which would not have been made by a non-believer).Reflection on this challenge readily cuts through to the essence of (2) and debunks Christian claims of a higher moral living.
Let us start with (3) through a conversation of Jesus quoted in the Bible.
A Rich Man Refuses to Follow Jesus Matthew 19:16-26
A man came to Jesus and asked, “Teacher, what good thing must I do to have eternal life?”
Jesus answered, “Why do you ask me about what is good? Only God is good. But if you want to have eternal life, obey the law’s commands.”
The man asked, “Which ones?”
Jesus answered, “‘You must not kill anyone, you must not commit adultery, you must not steal, you must not tell lies about others, you must respect your father and mother,’ and ‘love your neighbor the same as you love yourself.’
The young man said, “I have obeyed all these commands. What else do I need?”
Jesus answered, “If you want to be perfect, then go and sell all that you own. Give the money to the poor, and you will have riches in heaven. Then come and follow me!”
But when the young man heard Jesus tell him to give away his money, he was sad. He didn’t want to do this, because he was very rich. So he left.
Then Jesus said to his followers, “The truth is, it will be very hard for a rich person to enter God’s kingdom. Yes, I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter God’s kingdom.”
The followers were amazed to hear this. They asked, “Then who can be saved?”
Jesus looked at them and said, “This is something that people cannot do. But God can do anything.”
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Works cannot lead you to Salvation:
(1) To have eternal life (i.e., salvation, according to Christianity), it is not works but following God's commands that is the way to salvation. Jesus is even specific about which laws: do not kill, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not lie about others, respect father and mother, and follow the golden rule.
(2) People cannot do this (because they are not perfect). Only God can do anything (including enabling salvation for the limited mortals with his grace). In other words, God's grace is the only means to salvation.
In other words, all humans violate God's moral commands at one time or another. Thus, rest of the human actions are not sufficient to guarantee salvation. God's grace then is the only way.
God's grace is the only way to salvation. In particular, social service (and all other works) then is not a means to salvation.
Does Salvation lead you to good works?
History is replete with stories of Christians, missionaries, and even Popes doing actions which are inhumane in the name of their religion. Unless we are willing to say that they are all not saved inspite of being Christians, we have to concede that salvation has not led them to good works.
In other words, good works is neither necessary nor sufficient for salvation.
One big question then remains.
How does one get God's grace?
The law was given to us through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. John 1:17
We have been made right with God because of our faith. So we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through our faith, Christ has brought us into that blessing of God’s grace that we now enjoy. And we are very happy because of the hope we have of sharing God’s glory. Romans 5:1-2
Why then do Christians provide social service?
Because, they are convinced that God's grace is the only way to salvation. By hook or crook, they want to get people to God's grace by converting them to Christianity. When they could do this through colonial conquests or through inquisition, they did. Now, social service is their way to mingle with the community and convert them. Mother Theresa was known to convert people who are on their death bed. Why? Because she believed that it was necessary for these dying people to gain their salvation.
So don’t be ashamed to tell people about our Lord Jesus. And don’t be ashamed of me—I am in prison for the Lord. But suffer with me for the Good News. God gives us the strength to do that. God saved us and chose us to be his holy people, but not because of anything we ourselves did. God saved us and made us his people because that was what he wanted and because of his grace. That grace was given to us through Christ Jesus before time began. 2 Timothy 1:8-9
So prepare your minds for holy service. With complete self-control, put all your hope in the grace that will be yours when Jesus Christ comes. 1 Peter 1:13