For years I have wondered if it is a good witness to nonbelievers the way churches claim entitlement to the 501(c)(3) status. When your church features a full-service health club, gym, and white-tablecloth restaurant on its campus, along with six-figure salaries for its leadership staff, the notion of “nonprofit” defies all logic. If Jesus paid taxes, who are we to presume that we should be above the law when it comes to paying taxes?
Kurt Kelley Indianapolis, IN
What about the many ministries that can’t be so easily divorced from the local church, like the youth group that keeps kids off the street or the disability support group that provides a place of respite for exhausted parents? Without churches providing these and countless other services, many of the needs of local communities would become the responsibility of government, which would cost far more than the potential tax receipts to be gained from most churches.
I want to highlight that African nationals are also being educated as nurses and lay health care workers, standing in the gap to provide health care for many. For example, as a WHO [World Health Organization] collaborative center, the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Nursing is partnering with Kamuzu College of Nursing at the University of Malawi, educating nurse researchers, developing a peer group intervention to utilize rural health workers for HIV prevention, and culturally adapting prenatal care strategies to address Malawi’s critical shortage of health care professionals. Though these are not faith-based initiatives, those being educated may have a personal mission to provide compassionate, quality health care in their homeland.
Marlene Sefton, RN, PhD, APRN, Clinical Assistant Professor, University of Illinois at Chicago College of Nursing Chicago, IL
Let’s hear it for Jen Wilkin’s word about God’s will and the many ways people seek to hear or see what it is. Wilkin is right that we already know what God wishes for us. (Check “God’s will” in a concordance and you will have quite enough to do.) Maybe we should hear Peter: “His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us” (2 Pet. 1:3).
Knute Larson, Pastoral Coach Sawyer, MI
I totally agree with the heart of this article, that God’s will for our lives is clearly spelled out in Scripture. However, I was disappointed that our highest calling of all was omitted: “Above all, love each other deeply” (1 Pet. 4:8). In any shortlist of God’s will for our lives, this must be at the top!
I have often wondered why there are not more messages on a man’s role in marriage to be like Christ with the church. This can make a wife’s submission to her husband a joy rather than a duty.
Were we really doing so well if we were depending on having babies for church growth? Maybe this is a wake-up call for us to go into the world and preach the gospel.
Bethany DuVal (Facebook)
I was married young but had the average two children and said, like the culture, I’m done! It wasn’t until I was in my mid 20s and started asking some questions like, were we done having children? Why? After seeing all over the Bible that children were seen as a gift, blessing, and inheritance, we stepped out in faith and asked God to give us the faith and provision we needed to have as many as he would provide. After surrendering the hardest part of my life to God, my life and my womb, I saw with each baby how the church viewed fruitfulness, and I wish I could say it was pretty. I cannot tell you how many times I was scolded, derided, and even mocked for being pregnant again. I wish I could say that through the joy, pain, and sacrifices of bearing nine children, which I’ve laid down my life to disciple, the church as a whole has supported me, but I can’t. In so many ways the church has followed the culture instead of leading it, particularly in regard to family, roles, and children.
I am a bereaved parent who deeply grieves for their precious child. Articles like this make the grief and faith journey worse for many. This article is similar to the emotional, well-produced church videos that show miraculous recoveries. Unfortunately, from segments of the Christian community, I get the sense that medical advancements are secondary to prayer. Pray for medical researchers, pioneering surgeons, people that fundraise, and the lives lost during clinical trials so the public doesn’t get the sense that God picks survivors based on prayer emojis or the number of likes.
Jennifer Swenson North Oaks, MN
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While we pray for peace, we need moral clarity about this war.
We’ve got little information on Jesus’ appearance and personality. But that’s the way God designed it.españolFrançais
But experts say it can offer opportunities for leaders and congregations to grow.
