St. Maximos' Hut

In response to the question relayed by Andy about the role of churches in implementing government programs, I'd like to say that I'm worried about such "faith-based initiatives." Not so much because I'm worried that people in need might get prayed for or prostelized to, but because Churches should be doing this work in such an effective way that they don't need government dollars.

I heard a report on the radio today (o.k. Andy, I admit it was NPR) about churches looking to get re-imbursed by the government for aid they provided to hurrican Katrina victims. That just doesn't sound right. I don't remember Christ saying, "if you see man without a coat, give him yours, since Ceasar will give you another one later." I don't remember Christ saying "If you love me, apply for federal monies to feed my sheep."

More broadly, history is pretty clear that when the line between church and state gets blurred, its the church that suffers the most. Rather than acting as the government's sub-contractor, the church needs to be so effective in meeting the needs of suffering people that people start wondering why the government is in the redistribution business in the first place.