‘Cooperation But Not Integration’, Christian Charity Leader Says About Relationship Between Charity and Church

“基督徒应该在参与社会关怀服务中努力向社会传扬福音。”这样的论述想必是许多热心慈善的弟兄姊妹都曾听过，乃至颇为认同的观点。但是，在最近的一次交流中，一位在公益慈善事工服侍多年的弟兄却对此给出了大相径庭的见解。在他看来，“传扬福音”与“社会服务”应当是泾渭分明的关系，“可以联合，但不能混为一谈。”

公益事工的“信仰脱敏之路”

十余年前，A弟兄便已经开始关注社会公益慈善领域。现如今，他已经是一助残济困公益组织的负责人，还是当地公益圈子里颇具影响力的“大V”。

多年以来，他所在的公益组织主要致力于残障群体的服务关怀，先后帮助当地上百个诸如肢残、听障、视障以及心智障碍人士及其家庭开展关怀休养与社会融合等服务。

尽管绝大多数的核心同工都是基督徒，但是，在实际开展服务项目时，A弟兄和同工们却从不主动提及自己的信仰。“作为公益组织，我们还是需要跟信仰以及教会保持一定的距离。”他向笔者表示，“但回归个人，我们都是神家的儿女。”

“公益组织开展项目是面向全社会的，也会面对形形色色的人，每个人的包容度也各不相同。”正因如此，近年来，A弟兄的公益组织一直在努力淡化着自身的信仰背景。

谈到为何着重强调公益组织与教会之间关系的分离，A弟兄解释，其一方面，是出于保护双方周全的考虑，另一个重要方面则是因为二者在职分与宗旨上存在的本质性区别。

“就组织层面而言，公益组织的宗旨职分更多的是在物质和精神层面为弱势群体提供关怀，并帮助他们解决社会问题。”他介绍，“但是，灵性关怀并不是我们的职分，其需要，且只能由教会来进行承担。”

在他个人看来，公益组织可以成为弱势群体与教会之间的“中介”，但绝不能成为直接对外福传的“窗口”。“若受助者在灵性上有主动寻求，我们可以为他们介绍牧者同工，帮助他们走进教会，但是不能直接以公益组织的身份，去告诉他们信主有多么好。” （==当summary）

同理，就个人身份层面，A弟兄也坚持认为，“基督徒”与“志愿者”二者之间，同样存在着本质差异，不能笼统混为一谈——传扬福音，践行大使命，这是基督徒毋庸置疑的首要职分，但当身为志愿者时，服务好面前的对象则成为了首要的关键职分。“社会服务的重心应当是受助者，而非施助者，服务的出发点应该是‘你需要什么’，而不是‘我想做什么’。”他补充说。

尽管一再提倡教会和基督徒应当区别“传扬福音”与“社会服务”，但A弟兄却从不否认基督徒参与社会服务的价值和意义，“参加社会服务，一方面能够帮助我们操练更加谦卑的心，将爱的焦点从自己转向神。从神的视角去看待受助者，而不是从自己有限的视角去先入为主的开展服侍。另一方面，也能够借着自己服侍弱势群体的实际行动，去彰显基督荣美的形像，向社会做见证。”

寻求更有智慧的联合

在之前的走访交流中，曾有几位牧者同工向笔者“小倒苦水”，讲述教会在慈善项目开展时遭遇到的种种无端误解与阻碍，耗心劳力不说，最终项目做得也是畏首畏尾，不尽人意。

但是，在A弟兄的公益组织广泛开展助残项目的十余年间，既与基督徒与教会进行合作，也与其他信仰的志愿者及社会团体开展密切合作，项目进展也堪称“风生水起”，不论是志愿者还是受助者，都留下了十分美好且充满感动的回忆。

“在公益活动中，公益组织与社会团体之间的联合是完全可行且无可指摘的。”A弟兄表示，但是，如何既让双方在保持独立性与参与度的同时，又能在合法合规的前提下有序开展项目，这同样需要更有智慧的策略。

A弟兄以教会慈善事工为例向笔者解释，基层教会中常常会有一些困难信徒群体，但由于堂会事工安排、探访组同工缺乏等原因，也偶有出现无暇顾及，疏于关怀的情况，而此时则正是教会与公益组织联合的最佳时机。“公益组织可以派出社工及志愿者，协助教会做更加细致且更具专业度的关怀服务，同时也兼顾履行了教会信徒关怀的职责。”

除了在人力层面倡导联合，在奉献层面，A弟兄认为二者也可以实现有机联合。他告诉笔者，教会可以借由委托形式，间接通过公益组织向社会弱势群体、偏远地区进行捐款捐物，如此一来既成全了教会的社会服务使命，又不会因直接参与慈善而造成一些无谓的误解。

“联合但不融合”，对于公益组织与教会之间应当保持的正确关系，A弟兄如此总结。

近年来，在A弟兄的公益组织中，与教会有密切关系的同工已经陆续“脱钩”，退出了理事会的管理决策岗位。但最近，他又与基督徒群体中的专业人才找到了新的联合之道。届时，一位基督徒律师以及一位从事知识产权保护工作的基督徒社工或将有望成为公益组织的新任理事。

“我们希望能借着这些专业人才的加入，建立起更富专业性以及更具社会认可度的社会服务体系，以此来更全面地帮助到广大弱势群体。”对于公益组织后续的规划，A弟兄提出了自己的设想。

https://www.gospeltimes.cn/article/index/id/65713

"Christians should preach the gospel by participating in social services." Many Christians who are enthusiastic about charity work may hear and agree with this argument. However, Cao, who has served in a charity for many years, gave a very different view, "evangelism and social actions are distinct activities, and cooperation but not integration is the proper relationship between church and charity."

The separation of social service from evangelism

More than ten years ago, Cao began to be involved in social charity. Now, he is the head of a charity that helps the disabled and the needy, and he is also an influencer in the local charity circle.

Over the years, the charity has mainly devoted itself to the service and care of disabled groups and has helped hundreds of local people and families of those with physical disabilities, hearing impairment, visual impairment, and mental retardation, aiding them in social care, recuperation and integrating back into society.

Although most of the core workers are Christians, they never mentioned their beliefs when carrying out services. "As a non-profit organization, we need to keep a distance from the faith and the church." He told the author, "But as individuals, we are all children of God."

"Non-profit organizations carry out projects for all of society and will face all kinds of people who have different tolerance levels." For this reason, Cao's organization has been downplaying its faith background in recent years.

Cao believes church and charity have different duties and purposes, and it's reasonable to separate these two. Also, the separation protects both sides. 

"Charities focus more on providing material and emotional care for vulnerable groups and help them solve problems," he said. "However, spiritual care is not our duty, and it can only be undertaken by the church."

In his own opinion, charities can be the "intermediary" between disadvantaged groups and the church, but can't be the "window" for direct evangelism. "If the recipients seek spiritual help, we can introduce them to pastors and help them get into the church, but as a nonprofit organization, we can't directly tell them how good it is to believe in the Lord ."

Similarly, Cao insists that Christians and volunteers are different in nature, which should not be confused. Preaching the gospel and carrying out the great mission is undoubtedly the first duty of Christians. However, the duty of volunteers is to serve people. "The focus of social services should be recipients, not helpers, the motive for serving should be 'what you need', not 'what I want to give'", he added.

Although Cao stressed the separation between "evangelism" and "social service", he never denied the value and significance of Christians' participation in social service. "Participating in social service can help us to practice humility and turn the focus of love from ourselves to God. We should serve others from God's perspective not our own limited perspective. Also, through practical actions of serving vulnerable groups, Christians can show the glorious image of Christ and testify to society. "

Seek a Wiser Union

For more than ten years, Cao's organization has extensively carried out projects to help the disabled. They have not only cooperated with Christians and churches but also closely worked with volunteers of other faiths and social organizations. Their projects progressed smoothly, and both volunteers and recipients had very beautiful and moving memories.

"In social actions, the cooperation between charities and social groups is completely feasible and blameless," Cao said. However, for both parties to maintain independence and participate and carry out the project in an orderly and compliant manner, a more intelligent strategy is needed.

Cao used the charity ministry of the church as an example. Due to the lack of personnel, the need for vulnerable believers in grass-roots churches can not be met. In this case, church and charity can cooperate. "Charities can send social workers and volunteers to assist the church in providing more detailed and professional care services, and the church can fulfill its duty of caring for church members."

Besides, Cao believes church and charity can also cooperate in finance. The church can indirectly contribute to helping socially disadvantaged groups or people in remote areas by entrusting its donation to non-profit organizations, which fulfills the church's social responsibility without causing unnecessary misunderstandings.

In recent years, staff in Cao's organization, who were closely related to the church, have gradually "decoupled" and withdrawn from management positions. Recently, however, he has found a new way of connecting with professionals in the Christian community. A Christian lawyer and a Christian social worker who has engaged in intellectual property protection might be expected to be the new directors of the charity.

"With the participation of these professionals, we hope to establish a more professional and socially recognized social service system, so as to help the majority of vulnerable groups more comprehensively."

- Translated by Oliver Zuo