Church can’t do it all when it comes to helping the needy

LETTER TO THE HOLLAND SENTINEL: Grandville — Alan Helvig (Sentinel, March 2) argues that God’s teaching in Scripture is that it is the responsibility of the church and not the government “to take care of the  poor, the widow and the orphan.” He further states: “I believe the government needs to get out of the church’s work and that the church needs to take back its responsibility from the government.”

Now, I firmly believe the family and then the church come first in caring for the needy. This does not mean, however, that the government is absolved of all responsibility. Psalm 72 gives the responsibility to government leadership for justice and charity when it states:  “... defend the cause of the poor of the people, give deliverance to the needy, and crush the oppressor.” Later God describes a good government leader: “For he delivers the needy when they call, the poor and those who have no helper. He has pity on the weak and the needy, and saves the lives of the needy.”

We live in a society where individual attempts at justice and charity are not enough. We also need a government where justice and compassion are the rule. Ron Sider, an evangelical Christian scholar, points out:  “If religious congregations were to replace the federal government’s spending on just the four most basic programs for the poor, every one of the approximately 325,00 Christian, Jewish and Muslim congregations would have to raise another $382,000 per year to assist the needy. And if these congregations also took over the federal government’s share of Medicaid, the figure would be $938,000 per congregation each year. That would be rather difficult since 50 percent of all U.S. congregations have less than 100 regular participants and their median annual budget is a mere $50,000 to $60,000.”

Mr. Helvig, are you and your congregation ready to make this financial commitment?

Vern Hoffman
Grandville