It’s easy to think of missions occurring in far off lands, probably in a sweaty jungle or on a remote island. Missionaries are special people, to be certain, bravely living out the call of Jesus. But when we personalize it a bit we tend to grow uncomfortable. We’re not missionaries, we’re just ordinary folks. Mission work is for men in animal skins and women in hand woven sweaters. Where did we ever come up with such ideas?
purpose
Right Time, Right People, Right Reason
For too long in my walk with Christ, I waited for the right moment to serve Him. Surely there would be a great clap of thunder to announce that it was now my time or perhaps people would just start showing up asking for me. Visions of grandeur, it would seem, actually have little place in the kingdom of God! Yet, through the years I have discovered I was not alone in this delusion. I have met many others who, like me, were just waiting for the right time or for the right set of circumstances before launching into their ministry for Jesus.
Waiting for the right time, it turns out, is a misnomer. Each and every moment of the day is the right time for you to serve God by serving and loving others. So if every moment is the right time, that means that every moment we spend waiting for the “right time”, is a moment wasted. By waiting for the perfect time, we are actually choosing to ignore that the perfect time is now. God calls us to serve Him now, but we argue that it would be better for us to wait. How foolish we must appear to our Holy God. How sad must He be as He watches the countless moments squandered by proud humans who claim to know better? Serve God at the right time in your life, but realize that the right time is now.
Another common problem I have lived and observed is the desire to go it alone. Surely no one else holds our same convictions, so we have no choice, right? True Christianity is all about community; it’s about coming along side our brothers and sisters and helping each other along the way. Jesus chose twelve men to walk with him every day. Paul chose to have a travelling companion whenever possible. Moses had Aaron. All through the Bible I see stories of servants of God coming along side of each other to multiply their effectiveness and to encourage each other. It’s important to surround yourself with others who are striving to live as Jesus did. When you are weak or when you fall, they will pick you up; and when they are weak and fall, you’ll do the same for them. Choose the right people to walk with you on your quest to follow Jesus.
Finally, we need to make very certain that we are serving Christ for the right reason. It’s easy to serve Christ for the feeling of self accomplishment, to build your esteem in the eyes of your church or to impress others. If we are walking in the footsteps of Jesus for any reason other than our love for Him or our desire to serve Him, we may as well stop because Jesus sees what is in our hearts. He calls us to serve Him with all of our hearts. If we have an ulterior motive we again seem to be saying that we know better. If our worship and sacrifice are not pure, they will be rejected by God. That is a terrifying thought. Serve God out of gratitude for what He did for you, and out of love for everyone around you. Do it for the right reason, or don’t bother doing it at all.
Devote your entire life to nothing less than service for the One who gave everything He had for you. The time is now, serve Him. Take others along with you on the journey and watch God multiply your ministry. Keep your heart right with God all along the way. Focus on Christ at all times. Serve God for the right reason, at the right time and with the right people.
The Sheep and the Goats, part 4
This is our final day spent on examining this passage of scripture (Matthew 25:31-46). Some of you are probably giving a huge sigh of relief! As in part 3 (see also part 1 and part 2 if you missed them), I want to conclude today by looking at the last three commands from the parable, and do so by looking at them from a spiritual perspective.
Clothe those in need. Often we help lead someone to Christ and never check back with them. We figure we’ve done our part; we’ve gotten the gold star and done the happy dance, so it’s time to move on and look for the next “target”. This is wrong behavior and we should instead be nurturing the growth of the one who has just come to Christ. Their unrestrained passion is infectious, and I guarantee you will learn something from them. Otherwise it’s like leaving them naked in the wilderness and telling them “good luck” as we drive away. They are unprepared to face the spiritual challenges ahead. Our job is not to see how many people we can lead to Christ; rather it is to tell everyone about Him and feed and clothe those who do know Him. These are your brothers and your sisters. Do not leave them unprepared. Instead, instruct them in the ways of Christ. Prepare them for the battles they will face so they will be able to stand firm, clothed in grace, humility and the power of Jesus.
Care for the sick. We all are infected with the disease of sin. Some who have accepted Christ have fallen away and are in terrible condition. We must gently, and without judgment, care for their needs. We must help them through their trials and point them back to Jesus. Satan will poison our minds with doubt and lust and greed. He will pollute our thoughts with inaccurate teaching. Jesus is the antidote; we are His hands, responsible for administering it. Never judge an ailing brother or sister, but rather encourage them with wisdom and nurse them back to full spiritual health.
Visit those in prison. Finally, there are those who have closed their minds to anything spiritual. They believe man has the answers for everything or perhaps that there are no answers to be had. Their hearts are locked behind iron gates and stone walls. Yet we must never refrain from demonstrating love and kindness to these individuals. The Bible tells of angels opening locked doors (Acts 12:6-10), and they are still in the business of doing just that. By engaging those who want nothing to do with Christianity, we are able to bless them by simply being a friend. Perhaps someday angels will unlock the door to their heart and we can then share the good news of Jesus. Our call is to the sick, not the healthy. Never grow discouraged when speaking to those in great spiritual bondage. We have the Creator of all things on our side. Be gentle, loving and persistent. Pray that God would unlock the door to the heart of that person.
I hope you have found something useful in this series of posts. It is vital that we grasp the things we are to be doing, for Jesus made it quite plain that these are the very things that will determine whether we join Him in Heaven or spend an eternity apart from Him in Hell. I cannot stress enough that our salvation does not end with Ephesians 2:8 and 9. Once we have accepted the Gift of God, we must work out our salvation by doing the very things He created for us to do, as explained in Ephesians 2:10. That’s the whole package; stopping at grace is simply removing the bow. We have to dig in and put in some effort to unveil what’s inside the gift. This year, let’s move beyond the simple profession of faith. Let’s get in there, get our hands dirty and wage spiritual warfare. The sidelines are for spectators, we need to be in the game. Gear up, get engaged, and throw yourself into all that God has made for you to do.
The Sheep and the Goats, part 3
After spending the past two posts (see part 1 and part 2) examining the parable of the “Sheep and the Goats” (Matthew 25:31-46) from a very tangible, physical works perspective, I want to spend the next two posts looking at the same verses from a personal, spiritual perspective. The spiritual teaching in this parable does not negate the physical, nor does the physical render the spiritual less important. As mentioned earlier, we are instructed in Ephesians 2:10 to be about doing these works. At the same time we must never forget that we are constantly engaged in a spiritual battle and so must be ever working on this area of our life as well.
Feed the Hungry. We are blessed to live in an era where there is no lack of information available. The internet has opened up the world for many, and answers to questions are but a few keystrokes away. Yet people still crave more information. They want it quicker and in ways that are meaningful to them. I think behind this desire is a simple search for meaning. People are hungry for truth and seek it in many ways. There is only one truth and that is the love and salvation found in Jesus Christ. We are commanded to tell everyone we meet about Christ (Mark 16:15). People are desperately hungry for the truth. We are spiritual beings and those without Christ are left with a huge ache in their soul. Our job is to feed them the truth of Jesus, the Bread of Life, and the only one who can fill their emptiness. At the same time, those who know Christ continue to hunger for more of Him. It is our duty to instruct them in wisdom and teach them the truth of scripture. We must look after the spiritual needs of our brothers and sisters in Christ; encourage them when they are discouraged, lift them up when they have fallen, minister to them when they are weak. Constantly feed on the Word of God and share with all who ask.
Give the thirsty a drink. Jesus once told a woman that if she would drink the water He offered, she would never be thirsty again (John 4:14). The water He was referring to was His Spirit. People need Jesus in their lives; they need His Spirit to fill them. Look at the world around you: hunger, starvation, desolation, terrorism, murder, rape and looting. This world is desperate for hope, desperate for an answer. There are thirsty people all around you, people in need of the living water of Christ. If you don’t tell them about Jesus, who will? Share the living water of Christ with them; allow them to drink their fill.
Take in strangers. What is the spiritual meaning behind the command to take in strangers? One thing I take from this is to remember to never show partiality toward anyone. We often tend to look down on different cultures and people groups. We have preconceived notions about them, often a result of a lifetime of wrong teaching. Satan loves to make us stumble by having us look past these individuals. We must repent of this and ask God to give us a spirit of compassion and equal acceptance of all people. Satan has gained extensive ground through the use of racism. We must take back the spiritual ground he has seized by correcting our heart attitude towards those who are different from us. There are no strangers in the kingdom of God, there is only family. Do not let Satan gain a foothold in your life through the evil of racism. Reject those thoughts outright and deal a deadly blow to Satan and his demons.
In the next post, we’ll wrap up this series. Your comments are always welcome and appreciated as we work through this passage. We can all learn something from each other. After all, that is what this life is all about. It’s about community. Let’s live in such a way that we are feeding each other with the words of Christ and quenching the thirst of those without Jesus by helping them to understand and receive God’s spirit in their own life. Finally, welcome all to the family of God. We all have critical roles to play, and we all must do our part; we need each other!
The Sheep and the Goats, part 2
In the first installment of this series (see “The Sheep and the Goats, part 1”), we examined the first two commands from the parable found in Matthew 25:31-46, feeding the hungry and giving a drink to the thirsty. Today, we’ll look at some practical applications of the other four commands from a physical perspective. In the next post we’ll begin examining these same four commands from a spiritual perspective.
Take in strangers. In our current economic situation, more and more people are losing their homes; not everyone will have a place to go. If you have extra room, consider taking in a family until they get back on their feet. Perhaps you could help those with pets by caring for them until they can afford a place that will allow them to keep their pets with them. If you love children, consider adopting one of the millions of children without parents. Older children, in particular, are in desperate need of a loving family. If you aren’t ready for the commitment required of adoption, consider being a foster parent. Get involved with a ministry like Big Brothers and Big Sisters and invite the children into your home to spend some time with your family. Become a mentor or life coach for someone in need; invite them to stay with you if they are struggling to meet their financial commitments. Support your local homeless shelters; they are always in great need of your financial support. Donate to ministries that provide orphan and refugee care in foreign countries.
Clothe those in need. When was the last time you cleaned out your closet? How many shirts, pants and pairs of shoes do you really need? We have been richly blessed, yet often we get caught up in those blessings to the point that we begin to hoard more than we need. Determine a reasonable number of sets of clothing for yourself. Do this without looking at your actual wardrobe. Once you’ve determined an appropriate number, tell the Lord that you will give away anything over that quantity. Then go into your closet and select the predetermined number of outfits you will keep. Give away the rest to local shelters, a clothing ministry at your church or to families you may be aware of who could use the clothing. Repeat this process annually to keep yourself in check. There are ministries that provide coats to the needy in winter, ministries that provide shoes for orphans, and ministries that clothe refugees and children. Compassion International and Persecution Project, again, do a wonderful work in this area.
Care for the sick. Hospitals have scores of patients who are terminally ill and never receive a visitor. Nursing homes provide another tremendous opportunity to care for those who no longer can care for themselves. Homeless people often lack medicine or the means to acquire it. Head out to areas of your town where the homeless hang out and hand out cold and flu medicine, aspirin, band-aids, facial tissue, toothpaste and toothbrushes. Drive those in need to a local clinic. Take food to a neighbor who has been injured or is perhaps recovering from surgery. Check with your church to get a list of people who cannot get out on their own; visit them, tend to their needs and run errands for them. Support ministries that provide medicine and medical care to third world countries and inner cities. Call your local homeless shelters to find out their medical needs. It is so easy to take our independence for granted. The sick are wholly dependent on the kindness of others.
Visit those in prison. This is a scary one for many people. Connect with a prison ministry to discover ways you can make a difference in the lives of prisoners. Support these ministries with your money and with your time. Go to those who live inside locked walls and just be a friend. Let them see someone outside those walls actually cares for them. Write letters to encourage them. As an aside, I would recommend women visit women, and men visit men. You can donate to ministries who visit incarcerated Christians in countries of religious persecution. The Voice of the Martyrs does a wonderful work in this area. Write letters to our brothers and sisters in Christ who are in prison because of their faith. You can learn how to do this at the PrisonerAlert (a ministry of the Voice of the Martyrs) website.
I hope that these past two posts have given you many ideas of how to put the commands of Christ into action. Again, I’d love to hear some of your ideas as well, please leave a comment with your own thoughts. Practice putting your faith into action. You were created and equipped to do these works to the glory of God. Pray for wisdom and the guidance of His Spirit. These activities will be some of the most fulfilling things you will ever engage in. As you live out the commands of Christ you will find yourself growing ever closer to Him. There is no greater cause for which to live.