Is Lobbying Helping?

I may be wrong on this, but I wonder if anybody else finds the following a little odd: This past Sunday and next Sunday our church is participating in the "Offering of Letters" program being promoted by Bread for the World. According to the Bread for the World website, the idea of "Offering of Letters" is this:

"Members of a church congregation write letters to Congress in support of hunger-fighting legislation during their service and place them in the offering plate, dedicating the letters to God and saying special prayers for hungry and poor people."

Here is what I wonder: Is writing letters to Congress, asking them to pass more laws and spend somebody else’s money to help poor people, really the best way to help poor people? Or do we accomplish more if we give our own time and money directly to groups that really help poor people?

Is the church’s role to be just another lobbyist asking the government to do this thing or that? Is this all we have to do: ask government to do more? Does that fulfill our responsibility? Or are we supposed to do more, to use our own time and money to help those in need? (Our church does a lot of this, too.)

Obviously, government has more resources than any one individual does. But if you give your time or money to a group that directly helps poor people, you know something is actually getting done. Spending your time and money writing letters to Congress has the potential to result in a lot of nothing.

As I said, I may be wrong on this. I am just wondering.

Comments

[Pat McCullough]

Hi Pat,
You've asked some great questions! I was so inspired to respond that I wrote what seemed too much for a comment. Instead, I've posted a response on my own blog [see: http://patatbread.blogspot.com/2007/06/should-we-let-government-do-it.html ]. Blessings to you.

Peace,
Pat