Part 2: Needs Based Ministry

                I have been thinking lately about what is called a “needs based approach to ministry”. This approach does definitely focus on some important things, like helping the poor to have autonomy, a higher quality of life and to promote mental health. There are however, inherent attitudes and messages that this approach is sending to the recipients of “needs based ministry”. I feel that this approach is perpetuating a mentality which chooses to say that human needs take precedence over God’s sovereignty over us. I have heard it said that one’s needs must be fulfilled first (or to reach autonomy) before we can and should share the gospel with them. Although needs are important, we should never try to forcefully cram the gospel message into a formula. The reasoning behind this is simple: Romans 12:2 says, “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.” “Do not be conformed to this world” means that we should not conform to an “A leads to B” mentality, which would be rooted in self (a narcissism or serving something other than God). In other words, we need to teach others not to be rooted in themselves (which is the message conveyed in a needs based approach to ministry). Rather, we should teach others to be rooted in God.

                Too many times the carrot for the unbeliever has been “join so that you can reach self-actualization and have all your needs fulfilled” and, “God is here to fulfill your every need and so are we”. This could sound great on the surface, but what is really behind this approach is the deification of the self. When people become Christians on this precedence they would generally do one of two things: they either view God as a cosmic Santa Claus who is there only for their own self-wellness, or they conform to a sort of secular humanism where human suffering is the greatest evil and is the highest priority for humankind to alleviate. The difference between a Christian approach and a secular one here appears subtle, but makes all the difference. After all, who does not want self-wellness or human suffering to be alleviated? While these are both great things, they are not the main things in Christianity. God is being left out of the picture to a large extent. We are teaching others to submit to the gods of self-wellness, autonomy and humanism, which greatly plague the church today.

                There is, further, a great irony in this approach to ministry. We hear a lot about promoting justice, human rights and various tenets of humanism in what is called “the social gospel” but we never hear anything about God’s judgement. Am I missing something here? Last time I checked, judgement was synonymous with justice because it is the carrying out of justice. Who better to define what justice is and is not than God himself? Or do we find it unthinkable that God would dare to condemn humanity? 2 Thessalonians 1:5-10 says:

“This is a plain indication of God’s righteous judgment so that you will be considered worthy of the kingdom of God, for which indeed you are suffering. For after all it is only just for God to repay with affliction those who afflict you, and to give relief to you who are afflicted and to us as well when the Lord Jesus will be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire, dealing out retribution to those who do not know God and to those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. These will pay the penalty of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power, when He comes to be glorified in His saints on that day, and to be marveled at among all who have believed—for our testimony to you was believed.”

And

Romans 2:4, “Do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and tolerance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance?”

God has made a way for humanity to be saved despite their just deserving of eternal condemnation. The greatest charge of God to Christians is that we tell others about God’s grace which goes beyond justice. Grace is also different from any conceivable “human right” because it is undeserved (the only right we have is to condemnation). Grace is at work through a belief-obedience in God so that we do not need to face God’s just and eternal condemnation. Anything good in addition to God’s just judgement is an undeserving grace as is any kind of relief from suffering. We justly deserve eternal death, but God has given us a way out by taking consequences that should be upon our own heads upon himself. What greater love can there be then this: that one would lay down his life for his friends? God has laid down His life to save our wretched selves. Who else would do such a thing? People need to know and accept this or face eternal judgement! Therefore, the single greatest and most potent injustice a Christian can do to humanity is deprive them of Christ's call to repentance, forgiveness and eternal reconciliation with God. God’s judgement is totally and utterly interwoven into the fabric of justice. To leave God’s judgement out of justice is to have no justice at all. We can have a façade of justice in absence of God’s judgement, but in reality, it is only an illusion. This is because God is the standard of justice and without Him we are caught perpetually in a cycle of subjectivity.