The church has become very program based, to the extent that members take a personal stake in them. It becomes the perception then that 20 percent is doing all the work. In the best scenario the precentage engaging the lost community is probably less. We are reluctant, scared, or stuck in tradition in regards to being a full time missionary outside the holy walls. Until we engage our members either by example or one on one I don’t see a viable change happening quickly.

We are not engaging much and not many of us are engaging.

Much as I love Bart, I think you missed it in a couple of places.

First, this is about the evangepublicans and our hypocrisy, not about actual welfare recipients. I turn the political arguments against welfare back on us because the things we decry there we embrace in the church.

Second,and this was pointed out by our Worship Pastor, David, your observation that church members don’t work because they don’t see it as valuable supposes that they are actively pursuing Kingdom work and can’t find it in what we offer.

If that were true, then they would find it elsewhere if they don’t find it in us, but they don’t.

We have created a culture of non-engagement. We aren’t engaging anywhere.

I’ve worked with a couple of hundred clients on welfare. The reality is that most of them DO work, but the jobs they are qualified for (due to a very poor education) can’t fully support them. Writing welfare recipients off as lazy may help our consciences, but it’s simply not true in most cases.

Church folks work too! Many times, their work is actually a ministry. Because many Southern Baptists have limited ministry to evangelism, all that good work we do to help others doesn’t really seem to count as “real” ministry. What a shame. Too many times, persons are asked to do church work that really isn’t about evangelism or helping people either. That’s why many won’t do it. They see it as a waste of time and in many cases it is.

My two cents…