I'm being impacted this week by Steve Corbett and Brian Fikkert in their book "When Helping Hurts" as I'm preparing some material to present to church leaders on developing holistic ministry to the needy in their communities. How are we as Christians to view the brokeness all around us--like cancer, poverty, crime, unbelief, unemployment? How did Jesus respond to the needs all around him, physical, social, emotional as well as spiritual needs? Jesus preached the good news of the Kingdom, and he showed the good news of the Kingdom!
If Jesus had ministered to poor people the way much of the church does today, he would have just given a gospel tract to the blind beggar in Luke 18:25-43. Quoting from Fikkert and Corbett, "How useless it would have been if Jesus had only used words and not deeds to declare the kingdom...What if Jesus had said, 'I am the fulfillment of all prophecy. I am King of kings and Lord of lords. I have all the power in heaven and earth. I could heal you today of your blindness, but I only care about your soul. Believe in Me'?
Who would have believed that Jesus was the promised King if he had not given any evidence to prove it?"
We must do as Jesus did--not just preach the good news, but demonstrate it with our deeds of compassion.
1 comment:
Even in the church, we tend to think it is the responsibility of the rich or the government to deal with the concerns of "the poor". Yet Jesus praised the widow for giving all she had to the Kingdom work. No matter how little or how much we have, as believers we ALL have the responsibility and privilege of sharing our hope and our resources with others. May God abundantly bless your teaching on this matter.
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