The Church: Serving the poor

In my blog entitled ‘Pinky and the Brain’ I spoke of the three main purposes of the Church; to worship God, to bless the believer and to serve this lost and broken world. I’ve been stirred to ask myself ‘how am I fulfilling the purposes to which I have been called to?’ Today I want to look at how I’m reaching out to the needy and broken in my society:

God is really stirring me about this one lately.  I’ve been reading a book by Tim Keller called Ministries of Mercy - it is a dense book that has taken me months to digest, study and learn from.  It is jam packed with great wisdom about how we as a Church are called to love the lost, serve the broken and help the disadvantaged and has challenged by heart. 

Who are the poor?  They are those who are disempowered from making the choices that God wants them to make and this isn’t always about money or materials. This may include people who are physically disempowered through sickness and disease or those who are disempowered through circumstances that have happened to them.  It may include those who are spiritually disempowered and trapped in addiction or unbelief or it may include those who are emotionally disempowered through depression and low self esteem. 

For me my passion is for those who are relationally disempowered.  This is often overlooked when thinking about the poor but as a Church we should be aiming to serve those who are lonely, those who struggle to make friends, those who have no family to rely on and those who are marginalised by society. 

Those of you who know me, know that I have a big heart for young people and I believe that in our culture, media and society, young people are being disempowered.  This generation has been labelled as the lost generation.  They have been written off.  University fees have become a stumbling block to further education and self improvement, the Anti-Social behaviour act has helped to criminalise a generation and large scale unrest by the minority (such as the London riots) have caused them to be labelled as rebellious and unruly.

In my own town of Bishops Stortford, Young People are pushed to the fringes of the community.  They congregate in groups in the dark places in our town (car parks and fields) out of everyone’s way.  They instigate their own rules and live up to the reputation that society has given them.  This is not what God wants for the Young People of Bishosp Stortford.

For me I want to serve the young people of Bishops Stortford better than we are and that is why we are looking to launch a Youth Cafe in the town.  Thirst (www.thirstcafe.com) will be a warm, friendly, funky environment where young people can come and be themselves, find security and simply chill out.  It will be a place right in the middle of the town centre for all to see (76 South Street is the venue we are trying to secure the lease on) and it will be a place that looks to honour, love and bless the young people of Bishops Stortford.

Young people are my passion and I could talk about them all day…but what’s yours and what are you doing about it?  The bottom line is this; we’re called to serve the poor so let’s do it.  Find your passion…find your gifting and go for it.

I’ll finish with a quote from Bill Wilson: When people care more for themselves than the people around them, society beings to crumble.  My question this week is this:  Are we more concerned about ourselves or about others? 

What if the 'Big Show' wasn't God's idea?

Every year I lead a team of 20 leaders and 50 young people to an amazing event called Newday!  It's a similar event to Soul Survivor and the like and over 7000 people gather with the sole purpose to engage with God and be changed by Him and for Him.  Last year 305 young people made a first time committment to follow Jesus...it truly is an amazing week.

However last year I got into a big discussion with some of our young people about whether or not lighting...staging...and amplification actually helped or hindered our worship?  It was an interesting discussion but we ultimately disagreed with the young people thinking it was a help while I felt it might in fact hinder true worship!  For me it's not about how it 'feels' but rather is it inline with scripture? 

Yesterday I read this article and it stirred in me the same thoughts that I had during the discussion at Newday. 

Give it a read and let me know what you think...is the 'Big Show' a help or a hinderance?

MURDER!!

I love to follow the news but it is often hard to keep up to date with all that is going on and that is why my home page on my internet explorer is ‘The Week’…a website and magazine that takes all the weeks notable news and condenses it into small bite sized information so that you can capture all the weeks interesting information in half the time!  As I logged on to it today, two stories leaped out at me:

The first was a story about a Colombian drug trafficker called Griseblda Blanco known as the “queen of cocaine.”  It was being reported that she had shot dead by two gunmen as she left a butcher’s in Medellin, Colombia.  She was 69.  In the 1970s and 80s she was at the centre of the cocaine trade in New York and Miami, reportedly making $8m a month and responsible for the murders of numerous rivals.  One of the investigating officers almost justified the killing when he said these words: 'When you kill so many and hurt so many people like she did, it’s only a matter of time before they find you and try to even the score.’

The second was a story about Andrew and Tracey Ferrie who shot and injured two out of the four burglars who had broken into their home.  They were arrested by police on suspicion of causing GBH.  Their local MP has thrown his hat in the ring by defending the couple’s actions as ‘just.’

The reason that these two stories stood out for me is that they both essentially justified violence.  They both say that revenge is ok.  They both teach us that an eye for eye is ok.

As a society do we really believe that?  Do we really think that if some assaults my wife I should be able to assault theirs?  Of if someone steals from me I’m aloud to steal from them? 

In fact in the case of Mr and Mrs Ferrie they upped the stakes…they were stolen from but they repaid their loss by causing GBH.

The Bible does say ‘an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth’ in the Old Testament but what many people seem ignorant of is that Jesus actually redefined many things about life in the New Testament.  About these words He actually said:

“You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.’ But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also. And if anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, hand over your coat as well. If anyone forces you to go one mile, go with them two miles. Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.”

Don’t hear what I’m not saying.  I personally believe that there can be such a thing as a just war.  There are times when authority needs to be fought against.  If a regime is oppressive and violent, then I do believe they need to be stopped. 

However I do find it very sad whenever I hear about people being killed as a punishment for their behaviour.  I may be alone on this one but when Saddam Hussein was hanged I was saddened.  When Osama Bin Laden was killed I didn’t rejoice.  Not because these people don’t deserve justice, they do.  Quite simply because I can’t agree with the attitude that killing someone, or indeed injuring someone for a crime or a wrong doing is ever right.

The gospel is this:  I sinned against God.  This sin was worse than burglary or drug trafficking and the punishment was death.  But God loved me so much that He sent someone else, Jesus Christ, to die in my place so that my sins and wrongdoings can be forgiven.

I’m not saying that we should just overlook people’s crimes…but I don’t think it is our job to decide when someone’s life should be ended, especially when basing this upon their actions.  I think our job, as the Church, is to imitate Christ: to love unconditionally, without prejudice and not based upon a person’s actions but looking at their hearts.

I’m so grateful God didn’t treat me as my actions deserved.