Daily Devotion

“If we only give them the gospel without caring about their poverty and opium addiction, our gospel is hypocritical; but if we only give them social reform without Christ, our help is short-lived.”

David Hill · David Hill: The Apostle of the Chinese

Scripture

James 2:15-17 If a brother or sister is naked and lacks daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warm and well fed,” but does not provide them with the necessities of life, what good is it? In the same way, faith without works is dead.

Reflection

Li Xiushan's missionary philosophy serves as a mirror. We often oscillate between the extremes of "only preaching" and "only doing charity." The Book of James reminds us that faith without compassion is pale; but if we only focus on social reform, we forget that the root of suffering is the loss of life. True love, like Li Xiushan's, is both bowing to touch the wounds of the times (such as poverty and addiction) and looking up to guide us to our eternal destiny. In today's workplace or neighborhood, am I using hypocritical spiritual slogans to mask my indifference to the material needs of others? Or am I ashamed to speak up, limiting the other person's needs to mere temporary material comfort?