“The righteous care about justice for the poor, but the wicked have no such concern.” Proverbs 29: 7
I am grateful to God for allowing me to be a part of His kingdom advance here in the AC area.
I am especially grateful for the opportunity to serve and help disciple the teams that come from all over the country to minister among us. In particular, it has been a joy to remind God’s people that our gracious and holy God does not only call us to repent of our idolatry, immorality and other personal and corporate sins, but also of our failure to care for the poor, the widow, the orphan, the stranger, etc.,
In one of the talks I give to every team that comes to serve with us, I ask them to list the type of sins that God calls His people to repent of through His prophets in the O.T. In every talk (except the very last one I gave a few weeks ago), they list such sins as idolatry, sexual immorality, lying, disobeying parents and the like. But none of them mentioned injustice or failure to care for the needy. The last talk I gave one dear saint mentioned injustice. She was one out of about 100.
It seems to me that while we evangelicals do a pretty good job of pointing out the Bible’s exhortation to repent of idolatry and personal sins of the flesh, at best we have given only a passing nod to the Bible’s exhortations to repent of our failure to tend to matters of justice, mercy and compassion.
I do not point this out as someone who has a long history of caring for the poor. In actuality, I’ve dabbled in and out of mercy ministry over the years and consider myself a mere padawan learner at this point. But as God has been continuing His gracious work in me He has also been planting a new church community which is not only concerned with their own interests, but also those of Christ Jesus and the city which He has placed us in.
There are many reasons why our preaching and practicing of mercy ministry has not been as consistent and fervent as it should be. Some are afraid of being accused of preaching a social gospel, others believe it’s not the church’s job and still others believe it’s an Old Testament emphasis that we’re no longer ‘bound’ to. But I think the real reason is simply this: It’s far too costly.
Walking side by side with a family as they go through the process of foreclosure and having to find a place to rent with destroyed credit is emotionally and physically exhausting. It is heartbreaking. Working with cute little urban children through Bible Clubs only to see them get drawn away by local gang members or drug dealers is a bitter pill that is very hard to swallow. Hearing about the 15th shooting of the year in the city you’ve been called to live, work and plant a church is maddening.
It’s a lot easier to adopt a ‘they made their own bed, now they have to lie in it’ attitude and go about your business.
But Jesus is continuing His work that He begun in me in 1986. He is reminding me that I too made my bed and He didn’t leave me there to lie in it. Instead, He left His Father’s throne, came down to this fallen place and took my place in the bed my sins prepared for me! And although I’m just beginning to delve under the surface of mercy ministry, I am already beginning to get a taste of the blessing promised in this passage of God’s Word:
and satisfy the needs of the oppressed,
then your light will rise in the darkness,
and your night will become like the noonday.
11The LORD will guide you always;
he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land
and will strengthen your frame.
You will be like a well-watered garden,
like a spring whose waters never fail.” Isaiah 58:10-11
I want these blessing mentioned in this passage for myself, my family, my church family, the UMTs and the churches that send them to AC, and my denomination. I pray that the evangelical Church in the U.S. A. would experience a radical renewal in this area. Just imagine what a hearing we’d gain for the gospel then.
Church Planter
New City Fellowship of AC
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