One of our LAMP moms really needed help moving tonight, so I got a Uhaul and spent most of my evening moving boxes and furniture to a house in Homewood. Helping me move were about six or seven other men from her neighborhood that she had enlisted to provide the muscle. A good friend of mind, Greg, also showed up with his LAMP mentees to help out with the move. It's great for mentors to do fun things with their mentees all the time, but it's also good to do service opportunities with mentees to model for them how Christ calls us to serve others.
God says we can use words or works to share the gospel of Jesus Christ. Sometimes we have the opportunity to use words, and sometimes we have the opportunity to use works. God gave me the opportunity to share the gospel through my works tonight, but while I was driving between houses with two men from the community God also gave me the opportunity to use words. The guys asked me why I was helping with the move. I told them about the mentoring program, and I told them about our church. And then I invited them to church, and that led to me sharing the gospel message en route to our destination. We had a great talk about God, and I was able to plant some seeds of faith.
There seems to be a lot of fear and uncertainty in the world right now, and Christians in America are withdrawing from the world at an alarming rate. I think that during difficult times, Christians should be egaging the world to demonstrate the profound love of Jesus Christ. God opens up doors to share the gospel message when we are obedient to his clear call to engage culture and serve people in need. Right now is the best time to love our neighbors and to show people the love of Christ through our actions. I got to experience the fruit of that call tonight. The Holy Spirit was moving on the streets of Homewood tonight during what seemed like a simple act of obedience to help a single mom move her family. God loves to work through us in broken places with people who are struggling.
1 comment:
Bryan
First, thanks so much for helping this family with their move. Not being able to be of help is frustrating.
Second, I've been sharing 'The Externally Focused Church' with some of my friends, trying to enlighten them to the idea of 'witnessing through serving'. You're right, too many Christians have withdrawn from engaging those 'in the world'. I understand that - I know I certainly get weary of the defilement that comes from the world, and tired of fighting the temptations that the world provides. Let's be honest, being in our culture is a spiritual battle. But... we're called to be salt and light to the world, and hiding under our baskets isn't an option if we want to be obedient to our calling.
I like this quote from St. Francis of Assisi: 'Preach Christ at all times and when necessary use words.'
John V
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