Ministries of Mercy: The Call of the Jericho Road Book

(This review is based on the second edition, 1997. If you've read more recent books on organizing a ministry of mercy - compassion ministry - at the local church, I'd be interested in your suggestions below.)

This book is filled with practical advice for developing compassion ministry groups / engaging volunteers (part 2 of the book). The first part of the book sketches out foundational theology to teach the place of such ministries to the community and to reinforce the role of evangelism in the ministry. The book doesn't pit compassion ministry against witnessing; on the contrary, the author provides insight and perspective on how Christians reach out in "word and deed."

A few months ago I read the book When Helping Hurts . In many ways that book should be read before a book like this. The person who reads this book first will not realize what insights this book is missing while giving useful information that a person can use to launch volunteers into service. This book offers such detailed and helpful information for organizing compassion ministry in churches, that I fear that most readers wouldn't ask, "What other advice do I need?" If I had read this book first, it might have become my manual for organizing ministry groups, and I might not have considered that more information could be helpful.

Tim Keller covers a wide range of areas where Christians can serve their community, but the focus of his concern is material poverty. Other areas of human need are in the list. His main concern, however, is helping evangelical churches (middle class, generally) understand the poor and their need for many kinds of help that a motivated church can provide. The reason I recommend readers first read When Helping Hurts , is because that book warns that American Christianity has absorbed our culture's materialism, and we think that the solution for people's problems is usually solved with money or providing some material resource. Not all poor people find the solution to their problems in money and things - which are too often provided by churches without taking time to find out about spiritual needs, much less investigating root causes. Keller acknowledges the need to analyze the cause, but When Helping Hurts does a better job of talking about the dangers. When Helping Hurts also has useful distinctions between immediate relief and helping someone recover from a disaster and other needs - Keller doesn't write as much about such distinctions.

Keller's theological foundations are Calvinism. He talks about mercy ministry in terms of the church's duty to spread the kingdom of God on earth. I was struck by his emphasis on corporate duty (he would object to the word "duty" because he acknowledges the need for love to motivate the church). When I think of mercy ministry, my Christian vocation both as a church member and a member of the community is how I conceive of helping others. What has God called me to do for my neighbor? Ironically, I am an organizer of corporate mercy ministries, so in reality I don't confine my thinking to private relationships. Yet I think of how John Calvin tried to create theocracies as an expression of the Kingdom of God, and I see where my views are shaped by a different theology.

While I agree that we need to take into account that human systems are flawed and that the poor can be the victims of such flaws, I felt uncomfortable with Keller's discussion of church's obligations to accuse corporations in the community of doing evil with regard to the amount they pay employees. In general, I share his concerns and his convictions that the Lord wants us to show compassion, but he and I are coming from different directions even though we believe in some of the same solutions.

I didn't take the time to investigate Keller's use of the Old Testament, on which he heavily relies as he discusses the obligations of believers. Whenever discussion about God's will for believers relies heavily on Old Testament references, Christians should evaluate whether the passage was directed to the nation of Israel as God's covenant people, or whether the command / principle is repeated in the New Testament because it is part of God unchanging moral law. I did feel that Keller was vague on the shift from the Old Testament tithe to the New Testament's emphasis on generosity.

Similarly, although he clearly says in several places that leaders must motivate church members to respond in love not duty, still Keller will fall into saying that a Christian MUST do this or that (speaking about poverty), instead of showing the privilege and wisdom of such a course of action (and allowing for the infinite variety of Christian maturity, perception, station in life, etc.).

In the generation since this book was published, some of Keller's expressions have become outdated. I remember years ago when the Church Growth movement coming out of Fuller Theological used the term "felt needs." Churches were told to use "felt needs" - areas of life that unchurched people perceived as necessities - as bridges for communicating the gospel. People feel they need financial planning information, so if a church offers a Dave Ramsey course, it will draw people that don't realize they need Jesus. In the context of compassion ministry, "felt needs" feels like an artificial concept, as though the poor or parents of a child with developmental disabilities only "feel" they need help in those areas. I know that's not how the expression is intended, but clearly evangelicals have a different way of speaking 20 years later. To his credit, when Keller refers to the work of Church Growth promoter Peter Wagner, he often points out weaknesses in a term or concept.

Despite the criticisms I've offered, I have to say that this book is packed with useful advice, warnings and spiritual insight. It could (and probably) should be read annually by leaders of church compassion ministry groups. Keller makes strong points, and then follows with warnings about how acting on his advice could fail, if the reader fails to take certain steps.

Speaking of developmental disabilities, Keller's book is also outdated in using the "R word" to describe people with Down's or disabilities like that. It was a perfectly acceptable word years ago, but no longer.

Spiritual gifts inventories have been popular since the time this book was written but Keller points out a few weaknesses. One interesting point is that asking a church member to do a self-evaluation before the giving the person opportunities to serve can create an artificial barrier. The person may say, "I don't have the gift of evangelism, I'm a person who serves" not understanding that the evangelism team would be enriched with the gifts of service. People with the gifts of compassion or encouragement could be excellent teachers, just different from someone with the gift of teaching. Keller offers other ways to find out about spiritual gifts that may be more helpful than the deductive tool commonly used in evangelical churches.

Each chapter ends with discussion questions, so that the book could be used by church leaders to create a conversation that will lead to new ministries of mercy. The questions are good, but sometimes the answers to those questions have been better supplied in When Helping Hurts. Each chapter also provides references to inform the reader of others who have made the same points. The book ends with a bibliography of recommended books on this subject and summaries of why the books are recommended. Unfortunately, the most recent book in the list was published in 1985. Again, I hope someone will point me to more recent literature on ministries of mercy. I'm sure a lot more has been written since this book was updated in 1997.