Serving the Kingdom by Serving our City
For Columbia is around the corner - have you signed up to serve yet? If not, I have one argument here for why you should do it: It is because serving is so good that you shouldn’t be able to live without it. I don’t mean For Columbia is so good you will die if you don’t go. What I do mean is that relational justice ministry is crucial to our walk with God.
How often do we talk about the word of God as food that sustains us, and how prayer is like water to a parched soul or how worship is air in our lungs? How often, though, do we talk about justice ministry as a vital component of our walk with God?
In Matthew 25:31-46 Jesus talks about how those who feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, welcome strangers, clothe the destitute, visit the sick and heed to criminals have also fed, quenched, welcomed, clothed, visited and heeded to Jesus. If you love them, you love Jesus and are welcome in the Kingdom. If you reject them, you reject Jesus and the Kingdom is not for you. This doesn’t mean that if you stay home on April 28th (ForColumbia Day) that you don’t love Jesus and headed straight for Hell, but that our love for Jesus will inevitably overflow into this kind of loving service, scripture reading, prayer, communion, worship and all the other things that are so important to our souls!
If someone says they love Jesus but don’t show any love to the poor and needy, then something is obviously wrong.
This isn’t meant to guilt you into doing anything. All of your wrongs are paid for in full on the cross and no action can save you, so don’t think of this as a prompt to feel better by serving. Rather, I would encourage you to see that relational justice ministry is so good that we should yearn for it as much as we yearn to be with Jesus in Heaven.
Do you ever wonder why you weren’t swooped up into Heaven the moment you were saved? It’s not so you can pursue careers or spend time in a monastery studying scripture and praying. It’s because Jesus is not done drawing the world to Himself through you. Ephesians 2:10 says, “For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.” We should be seen as people who are eager to serve the world rather than begrudgingly sign up or make excuses as if this is a chore. It’s a joy and it’s the reason why we’re presently alive!
One final note: What if you don’t love the poor and needy? Isn’t it wrong or at least shallow to serve and love people out of duty? C.S. Lewis says in Mere Christianity, “Do not waste time bothering whether you ‘love’ your neighbor; act as if you did. As soon as we do this we find one of the great secrets. When you are behaving as if you loved someone, you will presently come to love him.” My hope for you all is that when you serve with For Columbia that your heart will come to love those you serve, those you serve with and the God who served you.
If you want to know more information about ForColumbia, check out their website! You can register to volunteer there as well. We hope to see you on April 28th!