The Church is a Soul Expert, Not a Social Agency

Quoting Martyn Lloyd-Jones . . .
Some think the church's task is purely a matter of social work and relief work, but that is not the business of the church. I am not saying that this does not come into the matter, but I am saying it is not primary. And that is what Peter put so clearly, once and forever, in this resounding, memorable phrase: "Silver and gold have I none." In other words, "Do not look to me for that. That is not what we are here to provide." Are you looking to the church for the right thing? What do you expect from the Christian church in this troubled state of the world? . . . The church is not here to talk politics, to play music, to give philosophical discourses, to produce art, or to provide social improvement or psychological treatment.
Do you simply go to church to get temporary relief, to forget your troubles and feel happier for a moment? God have mercy upon you if you do! No; the business of the church is to deal with the real problem of men and women--not to give alms, but to offer a cure for the paralysis. This is the unique message of the church, and this is what differentiates it from every other institution under the sun. The church is an expert on the soul. It is not a cultural center or a psychological clinic or a social agency. No; her calling, her commission, is to deal with the souls of men and women. This is what causes their paralysis. Their trouble is not in the mind, nor in the heart, nor anywhere else primarily, but in the soul--that is, in the essence of their being, the center of their life.
The trouble of men and women is their sinfulness. It is not lack of knowledge--they have plenty of knowledge. They know theoretically that war is madness, but that does not prevent their fighting. They know perfectly well that to drink too much alcohol is sheer lunacy, but they do it. Their trouble is this paralysis of the soul, that twist, the fatal thing that holds them down, that sends them astray. It is their estrangement from God. The violation of the law of God known in their own being--that is the trouble....The problem of the world today is the direct, immediate, central problem that men and women do not know God and do not know how to live and do not know how to die. And this central problem leads to all the misery, the unhappiness, the failure, the shame, the remorse, the agony, the bitterness, and the heartbreak of life. This is the problem. What is the value to you of scientific knowledge if it does not help you live? What is the point of being thrilled by great music if it still leaves you a slave to sin? What is the value of admiring art and showing your great cultural understanding if you cannot control your temper? The problem of the world is the problem of the souls of men and women, fallen, with the image of God defaced almost out of recognition. Human beings are almost worse than animals because the possibility of greatness is there in them. It is this contradiction, this paradox, that marks humanity; greatness and smallness, achievement and failure--here is the essential problem.
And the church is here to tell you what you need to know above everything else--namely, how your soul can be redeemed and be put right with God; how you can be set upon your feet; how the paralysis can be cured. The church does not give you alms; it gives you a cure--a radical, complete cure.
From:
Authentic Christianity