Some Works Are Not The Work Of The Church
Some believe that as long as a congregation is busy at some work it is pleasing the Lord. But the church must be busy at the work God delegated to her. The mission of government is to maintain order in society and punish evil doers. The mission of the family is to rear and train children. God left to individual enterprise commerce, business and employment, and the rendering of professional services (medical, dental, embalming, etc.). In a previous article we noted the "societies" of the Christian Church proposed works to be done by congregations through the societies that God never delegated as church work. Since we grasp the negative more readily than we do the positive — a fundamental law of human nature — let us list a few things that are not the work of the church.
Section of Brother Bole's Outline 3. Negative — what is not the church's mission
(a) It is not its mission to give its members social prestige.
(b) Not to give them financial standing.
(c) Not to furnish ENTERTAINMENT.
(1) For its members.
(2) For the world with operatic music or delicate festivals.
(d) Not to raise money to defray expenses of human institutions.
(e) Not to build fine houses, gorgeous temples, or imposing cathedrals.
(From Bole's Outlines, No. 27)
By "human institutions" (see (d) above) Brother Boles meant organizations begun by man; private enterprise. These enterprises should be privately supported. As Brother Boles points out, it is not the mission of the church to defray the expenses of human institutions. For example, an individual Christian (or group of Christians) may establish and operate a funeral home. It is a good work. But because he is doing a "good work" he should not expect the church to put his work into the church budget, or mail him the fifth Sunday contribution. The church may buy his service in burying some poor person whose family cannot do so. But this in no way obligates the church to make donations to his enterprise. Nor does it mean the church is responsible to operate a funeral home herself because she may on irregular occasions find it necessary to buy the undertaker's service.
"Not One Hospital" Laments Brother Lovell
In a recent issue of the California Christian Brother Jimmy Lovell writes: "The very fact that we do not have a hospital on earth is proof enough that we are a people who believe in faith without works ..." This is a serious charge! If true it means we are a people that are lost; it means that Paul, too, believed in faith without works. Paul established churches over a very wide area yet never established one hospital on earth! He had a wonderful opportunity to do so. The beloved physician Luke would have made a fine "superintendent," being qualified and being well known by the "brotherhood:" Paul's wide acquaintance among the churches should have afforded an "outstanding and influential board of trustees." "Erastus, the treasurer of the city" could have handled the financial end of things. We can see the huge sign, "St. Luke's Hospital," or perhaps, Paul might have simply named it, "Church of Christ Hospital." That way the "brotherhood" could have seen (?) it was their duty to support this "good work" and more money would have been secured. But, seriously, Paul did not establish human agencies through which to do church work. And who dares to say he believed in faith without works? We need more like Paul today who have enough faith in the church to work through the church in saving souls, and ministering to the poor. Brother Lovell's difficulty is simply this: he does not know what is NOT the work of the church. Paul did know, and therefore built no hospitals or other human agencies through which the church was to work. We need to accept Paul's belief in the all-sufficiency of the church in doing the work God delegated to the church.
"If The Church Can Buy, Can It Not Build?"
A speaker, in his lecture at Abilene, 1946, asked: "If a church can buy medicine for a sick man, and pay for a doctor's bill for one who is not able, could not the church do it on a larger scale through a clinic or hospital at home or abroad?" The argument presented here in question form is simply this: If a church can buy a service the church can build and operate such services. Is there scripture for such? Is there apostolic example of such? Is there any inference in the New Testament that the church should operate hospitals? We know that benevolent work is only the work of the church when the family function fails, and no kinfolk can or will help. (1 Timothy 5) Thus it is a secondary church work, and temporary in nature. If brethren could prove that whatever a church can buy, she can build and operate, then they would have to go much beyond hospital work. If the church can build hospitals then she must build and operate funeral homes to bury their "mistakes" and those who did not respond to treatment. Then that necessitates cemeteries in which to bury the dead. We come to a "dead-end" on this idea ("If the church can buy, can it not build?") and have not yet mentioned many good works — dental service, fuel service, transportation service, grocery service, rental service, etc, I had thought the church could buy fuel oil or coal for some poor family but should not become an oil distributor for some oil company; that the church could buy groceries for the poor but had no right to get into the grocery business; that the church could pay the rent for a poor family, but had no right to get into the real estate business and operate rental property. While I was working in Oak Ridge the church raised money to transport a family to Belgium. Should the church have bought the tickets for transportation, or should it have done this on a "larger scale" and have gone into the boat-building business asking the "brotherhood" to support our work of boat-building to transport missionaries oversees? "If a church can buy, it can build" brethren say. That Good Samaritan, it seems, should have bought the Inn and operated it to help the unfortunate, instead of buying the inn-keeper's services. By calling it a "brotherhood" project he might not have been out as much as he was by rendering an individual service to a suffering man.
The Hospital Picture
If the church is responsible to build one hospital on earth, would she not be responsible to build enough hospitals to meet all such needs? The church is responsible to preach not to a few sinners, but to every creature in every nation. If hospital work is a church work then it is worldwide in scope. Let's consider this.
As of 1951 there were 6,637 hospitals in the USA, with a total of 1,529,988 beds, 92,036 bassinets. Patients admitted that year totaled 18,237,118, and the average daily number in the hospitals was 1,293,653. (World Almanac, 1953 Ed.) How many of these suffered lack of care because we do not have "one hospital on earth"? How many more hospital beds are needed to give proper care throughout the world? (I deny it to be a church responsibility to provide the needed beds. E.L.F.) We can estimate the cost if we can find the number. It costs the federal government $20,270 per hospital bed in hospital construction in 1951. (World Almanac, 1951 Edition) Suppose each member of the church's million members built just one more hospital bed, and built it at one-half the cost Uncle Sam was charged. The total cost would be $10,135,000,000 (yes, that's ten billion)! But Christianity is world-wide, so let's view this hospital picture on that basis. In the USA we have one hospital bed for each 101 population. We need 23,762,376 beds for the worlds population of 2,400,000,000. Let's be liberal and suppose that half of those beds already exist, and that we can build the others at just one-fourth the price charged Uncle Sam in 1951. The amount needed is a mere $59,405,940,000, or per member of the church just $59,405. This is going to press me, brethren! Brother Lovell is awaiting your contribution to his hospital fund and has already $5.00. To meet world needs that just leaves $59,405,939.995. No doubt it will take time to raise this amount. Meanwhile let the church not overlook sin-sick souls and keep busy doing the work God delegated to her as her primary work — preaching and edifying.