How to Measure the Quality of a Religion

This excerpt comes from an article by the same title:

• The quality of a religion is not to be measured by how well it sings the "Hallelujah Chorus (or in 4-part harmony) but in how well it hears and responds to the cry of a dying child in a faraway land.
• The quality of a religion is not to be measured in how well dressed its members are at a worship service but in their generosity in clothing the naked.
• The quality of a religion is not to be measured in the size and value of the homes in which its members live but in what they are doing to make certain that others are decently housed.
• The quality of a religion is not to be measured by how many members tithe of their income but by what they do with their total income.
• The quality of a religion is not to be measured in the quality of health care it provides for its pastors but in what it does to provide health care for all.
• The quality of a religion is not to be measured by what the church says about poverty but by what the poor say about the Church.
• The quality of a religion is not to be measured by the amount of food on the table at a potluck dinner but by who is invited to eat.
• The quality of a religion is not to be measured by the beauty of its sanctuaries and stained glass but by the beauty of its spirit.

Jesus' measuring stick was simply this: "What have you done about the poor, the naked, the lonely, the sick, the hungry and the imprisoned?"

Author Melvin West, Columbia, MO