Physical needs first or spiritual?

[SerialCoder]

I beg your an expaination then. What is the mission? Is it not to spead the word of God to those less fortunate? To give Jesus to those who would otherwise not have the chance to receive him?

 

[AfricaWim]

No not to the less fortunate, to all. Not by people that only needs to"satisfy our own self actualization needs", but by people who cares for and have a heart for other people(all of them). Not just to spread the gospel, but also to serve their other needs, whether it is hunger, pain, loneliness, dispair .......

 

[Chriswoods83]

Wow! Now that is rubbish. What is going on in this thread is what i term Theocentrism "The belief that ones religion or religious ways are greater than another's."

I'm not sure exactly where you got that from. This isn't Post Modernism, ultimately there is only one right way. This shouldn't create any pride or hate or anything else... It should create extreme humilty for all.

I think the irony here is that you are all missing where Maslow's theory is really coming into play. It is with the missonary work. You are all doing this mission work to satify your self actualization needs.

I think you are missing God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit in the role of missions work.
Many missionaries are called to do their work. They leave careers and comforts to follow Christ. Many do not feel the are "exploring our individual gifts and talents" as self-actualization is partly defined.

I agree we should take care of both spiritual and physical needs. Who says we can't do those simultaneously?

 

[visionary]

If every crumb we offered to the people was offered with pray for the oppotunity to witness to the Love of God, would we not have a harvest of souls more than we have today. They need both in portions to their capability to handle. You can not feed a starving individual a lot, whether it is spiritual or physical. The same applies here. There is a careful balance, Jesus approached people to fill their needs and awaken the spiritual hunger for more. We should be following His example in feeding their needs and offering opportunities to feed them spiritually. By prayerful Holy Spirit guidance, the harvest of the Lord's will bear fruit.

Visionary

 

[ElElohe]

Maslow wasn't too far off base, but he wasn't in the bullseye either.

And while it is not wise to go around "theocentrist" as a missionary or even E-0 witness (to your local culture), there is authorite in the Truth.

Wow! Now that is rubbish. What is going on in this thread is what i term Theocentrism "The belief that ones religion or religious ways are greater than another's." It is really quite sickening. In your quests to be righteous, you have forgotten that in the end, saved or unsaved we are human. I will agree with Maslow 100% We will not focus on our greater needs until you have satisfied the lesser. I'll venture a guess that if thrown into the wilderness with no provisions, each of you would enter into a mode of survival where you would seek to satisfy your physical needs. Because you would be out of your element, you would probably be set in a cycle of satisfying your physical and safety needs untill you died or your were rescued. That would mean (by the quote above) that you were "unsaved"

I think the irony here is that you are all missing where Maslow's theory is really coming into play. It is with the missonary work. You are all doing this mission work to satify your self actualization needs. In asking questions like "is it better to feed the hungry first or save them?" You show the true face of the christian machine (christianity designed and manufactured by man) as aposed to how Jesus might have intened it. If Christ was reading this thread he would indeed be hurt. Show some humanity and do what you feel is right when you are helping others. They are not lesser people than you.

 

[ElElohe]

It is true.

By even asking which is more important we slide down an unnecessary slope. I wish I had a couple of articles from the infamously important Perspectives on the World Christian Movement text to share here, but I don't have them with me. In the chatper (in the notebook version) on Community Development the articles address this head on.

Community Development is integral in many cultural situations in the mission. In some fields it is absolutely necessary. But in every instance we must contextualize our approach.

If every crumb we offered to the people was offered with pray for the oppotunity to witness to the Love of God, would we not have a harvest of souls more than we have today. They need both in portions to their capability to handle. You can not feed a starving individual a lot, whether it is spiritual or physical. The same applies here. There is a careful balance, Jesus approached people to fill their needs and awaken the spiritual hunger for more. We should be following His example in feeding their needs and offering opportunities to feed them spiritually. By prayerful Holy Spirit guidance, the harvest of the Lord's will bear fruit.

Visionary