The question that has been hitting me in regards to the church, ministries and the Christian body is "How fast and well are we racing to stop and help the affected by the inferno?" This cuts to the core of who I am, believe and do. In light of the Katrina mess, Thailand devastation and now this horrible disaster we have to think about how we are responding.
It doesn't matter if you're all about traditional church, big building, powerful programs or simple church, eating together, worshiping in your home and have no costs. It doesn't matter if the disaster hits poor countries, ethnic minorities in our south or rich countryside homeowners. It doesn't matter if you're a conservative or republican and are angry or happy in the way our government has and is responding. In stead of passing blame, worrying about who is going to teach our next Bible study, does our youth group room need a Nintendo WI or Xbox 360 to match their 5 flat panel TVs, or should our outreach flyers be in yellow or blue paper we should be spending our time, energy, money, time and talents as the body of Christ to plan, prepare and respond to the current tragedy or the one that will hit your community.
This hits me right to the deep of my heart and really tests what I believe about Jesus. If He really did come to give life, love and forgiveness to a lost and hurting world then how is that world experiencing Jesus through the Christians who hold His message tightly. We share it loudly on our streets and through our evangelistic booklets and preach it boldly in great 3 point sermons that challenge our allegiance to God yet I wonder if we're loving those who really need love. Can I believe and share the love of Christ in a language and with hands and feet that the world can hear and respond? Or is my message all about joining the holy club that thinks its theology is correct?
One of the areas I believe God is calling me to put forth my leadership efforts is to help the church (large and small), para church, and the informal body of Christ to be equipped, prepared and ready to help a world that really needs help; to help them in ways that really meet their physical needs. My guess, assumption and prayer is that if the world were to see the Church as the first ones on the ground (before the Red Cross), providing food, shelters, opening their homes and buildings, staying until the final moment, setting aside tons of cash to give freely all without the strings attached of "come to our worship service," WE MIGHT JUST SEE A RESPONSE TO JESUS LIKE NEVER BEFORE.
I really do believe that if we started raising money, setting aside building projects, calling our congregations and groups to action, and worry about sharing the Love of Christ with our hands and feet as well as our mouths the rest of the world, those who have already 'kissed us off' will respond with "who are these people and what do they believe?"
One of the issues our leadership team in Mexico City, Mexico talked about often was if we are launching hundreds of spiritual movements led by students yet they are not ready to respond to the physical needs of a hurting world, then are we relelvant? If we're planting hundreds of churches, big and small, yet not meeting the physical needs of those around us than are we really all that impacting? I guess Jesus modeled and answered this in feeding the 5,000 and on His Sermon on the Mount.
Lets start the race with fellow Christians to stop the inferno that is affecting people who need to be loved and cared for. Talk to you friends, congregations, small groups, and families about what you could do and then do it.
The American Red Cross Link to the Wildfire if you need it.
Categories: Community, Kingdom, Culture, Prayer, God, Movements, Church
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