It’s not the kind of thing you want to read over your corn flakes: “1 in 4 Americans can’t think of a recent positive contribution by Christians.” But that’s what was in the paper this morning.
Really? Really.
I mean, come on—it’s not that hard. Take a meal to someone who is sick. Tutor a kid. Mow a neighbor’s lawn. Take baby steps. You don’t need to feel like you have to change the world. But if enough of us take baby steps, together we will change the world.
One particularly interesting point in the article: “Evangelical Christians over age 25 and those who said they were ‘mostly conservative’ on socio-political matters were least likely to list serving the poor as an important contribution.” What I want to know is this: when did serving the poor become a liberal idea instead of a spiritual one?
So come on over-25 crowd—let’s get back to what Jesus actually told us to do. Perhaps those under 25 will lead the way for the rest of us. What are you doing to serve the poor and make a positive contribution?
I completely agree with your perspective here. Serving the poor is a become a spiritual idea, not a liberal one.
To be fair, what the actual Barna report said is that these two groups were “least likely to list this as the greatest contribution of American Christianity.” “Greatest” is an important qualifier that the Denver Post article left out.