Dialogue on "The Tragedy of American Compassion" PART 4

So I must admit...and I hope many others can admit..."There is nothing new under the sun"

I have been part of a movement in Portland to help churches get outside their doors and truly engage our neighbors who have been left without dignity and basic necessities.  In the process we have discovered a problem:  That programs usually pop up because needs are so huge, and when that happens relationships are often dilutted.  So we wrestle with creative ways to get people engaged on a heart level so that Christ compelled acts of service don't become cold social services.

In reading this book I've discovered that we only need to revisit history to glimpse into the heart of churches, pastors, and other leaders who wrestled with the very same questions in the mid 19th century.

Am I the only one willing to admit that I had the audacity to think we've "really got something here"  or "wow Christian though on cultural engagement is finally reaching a higher peak".   Well I admit it and its dead wrong.

Here are some quotes:

"Ministers told their congregations that is was fine to contribute money, but the larger need, and more difficult task, was personal."

"To cast contribution into the box is a very trifiling exercise of Christian self denial and devotion, compared with what is demanded in contact with filth, and of with rude repulsive people, the facing of disease, and distress, and all manner of heart-rending and heart frightening scenes, and all trials of faith, patience, and hope, which are characteristics of the duty we urge"

"Mark you! these servants (those who help administer resources to the needy) are not to stand between the giver and the reciever, but to bring giver and reciever together."- William Ruffner 1853

These are comments that anyone who is involved in community engagement from the faith perspective can resonate with.  I feel convicted by these statements.  One glaring truth comes to the forefront of the critique on how we express compassion in the context of poverty:  "The easy route is....easier"   I settle and we settle as individuals, churches, organizations for less relationship....because plain and simple relationship is dirty, messy, and longsuffering. 

What does the future hold?  What would a Spirit-led, Spirit filled, approach to "bringing giver and reciever" together in a relationship that birthes deeper faith in the only God who walks with both populations equally because He loves both equally?