Tim Keller wrote Ministries of Mercy (P&R Publishing, 1989, Second Edition 1997) before he was the evangelical celebrity he is today. I think it's still the contemporary book to go to on mercy ministry and the church. It's been a few years since I read it, but something about the current political climate reminded me of the following quote. It's as true today as when he (and Schaeffer) first wrote it.
Our nation is becoming a mosaic of different groups, each with a unique complex of needs. Most churches are surrounded by growing numbers of the unemployed and underemployed, new immigrant populations, singles, divorced persons, unwed mothers, the elderly, prisoners, the dying, sick, and disabled. Poverty is on the rise, the percentage of the elderly in our society is exploding, ethnics are pouring into our country by the millions, and federal money for helping agencies, hospitals, and other such institutions is drying up. . . . Regardless of our political views, it is indisputable that millions of people who once looked to the government will now need service and aid from churches and other agencies. The church will be forced by demographics to see what the Bible has always said. Love cannot be only expressed through talk, but through word and deed (1 John 3:17).
While accomplishing that task, Francis Schaeffer said, Christians may be at times, "cobelligerents" with the Left or the Right, but never allies. "If there is social injustice, say there is social injustice. If we need order, say we need order. . . . But do not align yourself as though you are in either of these camps: You are an ally of neither. The church of the Lord Jesus Christ is different from either—totally different." (pp. 25-26, bold emphasis mine)
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