The short answer to the question whether we can overemphasize ministry to their widowed and single parents is yes. There are many other ministries the church should be doing as well.
The long answer, given the emphasis on this ministry in scripture, is that it would be difficult to do so and to date, I know of no church in America that does. Perhaps it would help us gain God’s perspective on this important topic by simply listing the abundance of scripture relating to it.
Here are some selected texts that mention widows and fatherless children:
Isaiah 1:17, 18, 23; 10:1, 2
Jeremiah 5:28; 7:6; 22:3
Exodus 22:22-24
Deuteronomy 10:18; 14:29; 16:11, 14; 24:17-21; 26:12, 13; 27:19
Job 6:27; 22:9; 24:3, 9, 21; 31:16-22
Psalm 68:5; 82:3; 94:6; 146:9
Proverbs 15:25; 23:10
Hosea 14:3
Ezekiel 22:7
Zechariah 7:10
Malachi 3:5
Mark 12:40
Acts 6:1ff
1 Timothy 5:3ff
James 1:27
Here are some texts that mention the poor, weak, and oppressed:
Galatians 2:10
Acts 20:33-35
1 John 3:16-18
James 2:14-17
Romans 12:9-13
2 Corinthians 8:13-15
And here are some additional biblical texts that talk about the importance of doing good works in service to these people:
Matthew 5:16
Romans 4:5; 6:23
Galatians 5:13
Ephesians 2:8-9, 10
1 Timothy 6:18
2 Timothy 3:16-17
Titus 2:7, 14; 3:14
Hebrews 10:24
1 Peter 2:12
One of the first accomplishments of the early church was its success in providing for the needs of its widows and others. Maybe it’s time we started following its example and obeying the clear mandate we have in scripture.
This post first appeared in NewCommandment.org.
For the past sixteen years New Commandment Men’s Ministries has helped hundreds of churches throughout North American and around the world recruit teams of men who permanently adopt their widowed and single parents in their congregations for the purpose of donating two hours of service to them one Saturday morning each month. We accomplish this with a free training site called New Commandment Men’s Ministry
Learn how to mobilize your men’s ministry to meet every pressing need in your church here.
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Learn how to form teams of men for every widow, single mom
and fatherless child in your church at NewCommandment.org.
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