Tomorrow evening at Encountering God in the City I'll be teaching on the topics of compassion, justice, and advocacy. Followers of Jesus often feel prompted to build relationships with people on the margins of society because Jesus spent so much of his time building those types of relationships. Jesus had compassion on people, so we should have compassion on people.
Compassion is good for Christians, but it is the simplest level of involvement with vulnerable people. We should not spend all of our time being compassionate because we also need to be working toward empowerment. Also, relationships should be done with people, not to or for people. We can cause more harm than good in our relationships when we go about things the wrong way.
None of this is really easy. Relationships can be messy. When we feel called to help people, we may sometimes do harm that is unintentional. We can learn and grow from our mistakes. However, I'll be teaching on these things tomorrow, from a biblical perspective, so that we can feel empowered to make a difference in the lives of others through meaningful, transformational relationships.
Encountering God in the City goes from 6:30-8:30pm on Wednesday, October 30th at the North Way Christian Community - East End campus that is located in the heart of East Liberty at 5941 1/2 Penn Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15206. Street parking is free after 6pm in East Liberty. We'll have some snacks on hand if you're planning to come straight from work. There is no cost to the course, and it is open to anyone. I hope to see you there!
Compassion is good for Christians, but it is the simplest level of involvement with vulnerable people. We should not spend all of our time being compassionate because we also need to be working toward empowerment. Also, relationships should be done with people, not to or for people. We can cause more harm than good in our relationships when we go about things the wrong way.
None of this is really easy. Relationships can be messy. When we feel called to help people, we may sometimes do harm that is unintentional. We can learn and grow from our mistakes. However, I'll be teaching on these things tomorrow, from a biblical perspective, so that we can feel empowered to make a difference in the lives of others through meaningful, transformational relationships.
Encountering God in the City goes from 6:30-8:30pm on Wednesday, October 30th at the North Way Christian Community - East End campus that is located in the heart of East Liberty at 5941 1/2 Penn Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15206. Street parking is free after 6pm in East Liberty. We'll have some snacks on hand if you're planning to come straight from work. There is no cost to the course, and it is open to anyone. I hope to see you there!
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