People in these parts are generous.
They help those who need help.
We who administer the help—aka the church—are called to do
more than logistics. We are God’s people
and God gives us wisdom generously when we ask him.
That wisdom says that in all of our ministries we are to connect
the disconnected. Ministry is not about
how much food we give out but about people receiving and responding to the
Bread of Life. It is about the Living
Water that will quench their thirst eternally.
Wisdom says it is not about how many children received
school supplies but about the families that they return to at the end of the
school day being connected to the church better than they are to the internet.
Wisdom says that Trunk or Treat can be fun, but more than
candy and spooky looking costumes, children need something more substantial
than candy. When children come, they
need to experience God’s love. The
parents who come with them need to know that their lives are like the empty
calories in Halloween candy without Jesus.
Those who follow Jesus need to speak the truth in love with them.
Wisdom says that going to the ball game and sitting next to
people who are disconnected from the Body of Christ and not helping them
connect is like watching them drown.
Wisdom says that not doing what we are commissioned to do
because it makes us and others uncomfortable is a sign that we have conformed
to the patterns of this world. Ouch!
What do you call a Christian who has conformed to the
patterns of this world? I don’t
know. It is a condition that truly
should not exist.
We have one Master and one Lord and one Savior. He said, “Follow me.” He commissioned us to take his love and
salvation into the world. We who follow
form the Body of Christ and that family of faith does our Master’s work in the
world today.
We must not conform to the patterns of this world because
they make us and others uncomfortable.
We must do God’s work until it is the pattern of the world that causes
us discomfort.
That means that we connect with the disconnected and bring
them into the Body of Christ where they can receive encouragement, counseling,
discipline, education, fellowship, and so many opportunities to truly serve our
Lord.
We always have food and school supplies and even money to
help where needed but these must be put to use wisely and produce a return for
our Master. We must use the talents that
our Lord gave us through his people, and connect the disconnected.
Our time, talents, and treasures have little intrinsic
value. Their value comes in how we put
them to work for the Kingdom of God.
CONNECT THE DISCONNECTED!
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