By George Grant.
In the Shadow of Plenty, by George Grant, is a book that explains that the model of evangelism and wedding word with deed. Christ does this through the Bible and from the beginning He shows judgment with grace and charity. God showed this to Adam and Eve when he extended their lives and also charity by covering them. Isaiah followed this pattern and an example of this is the Good Samaritan. He was a model to teach early Christians about the works of charity. The Bible teaches that we must depend on the Lord alone and not on the men of this world. Ahab dishonored this when he entered into the alliance with the enemies of God. When evildoers serve as our security, then all we have given them is authority and dominion over us. Allowing the government to do our jobs for us is permitting them to have "undue authority and unwarranted dominion". This also limits the evangelistic impact that we have. The Bible tells us to show charity to the poor and Work is one of the central themes !.
of the Scriptures. Work is one of mans created purposes and the Bible scriptures tells us that wealth, dominion, and charity are all related to Work. The Apostle Paul said, "If anyone will not work, he shall not eat".
Paganism looks to empire building and centralized authority, while Christianity looks toward the Kingdom and has a multiplicity of authorative structures. A good example is that charity should not come from the government in the form of welfare, but it should first start from within the family. The Bible teaches that we should show charity to the people in the covenant first. This means that we should illustrate charity to each other before the world. The disciples were warned that hard times would fall, but that it would only strengthen the Gospel. Trials are given to Christians only to help them and give them a testimony of God and what he has done in their lives.
