Christians are often accused of being so heavenly-minded they’re of no earthly good. More than 100 years ago, activist Joe Hill thought as much. While traveling throughout America, he drew cartoons and wrote songs in defense of America’s poor. He had no patience for pastors who preached for spiritual conversion without providing physical comfort. In 1911, he penned the following words:
Long-haired preachers come out every night
Try to tell you what’s wrong and what’s right
But when asked how ‘bout something to eat
They will answer in voices so sweet
You will eat, bye and bye
In that glorious land above the sky
Work and pray, live on hay
You’ll get pie in the sky when you die
Over a century later, Hill’s criticism still has traction. Many will concede that some Christians do good deeds—they’ll point to hospitals named after saints and they may even know something about Billy Graham’s son mailing gift boxes to kids around the world. Those who are old enough will vaguely recall how Jimmy Carter built houses for the poor. But when they think about that church in their neighborhood—the one with a pastor preaching weekly sermons, with people walking in for prayer meetings and
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