Part 5: Engaging people
Engaging
people
Questions:
The scriptures call us to engage in social justice, what does this look
like?
Reading:
Let
each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of
others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not
count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking
the form of a servant, being born in the
likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming
obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
-- Philippians
2:4-8
The Gospel is very personal. Christ was not aloof,
acting from a distance in order to bring about salvation for His people. He
came near, was born as a babe, and walked and lived among us. He “made himself
nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.” God
came into our world. This means that obeying God in ministering to the poor and
catching His heart for the poor does not happen from a distance. There is no
aloofness. This is at the heart of the command of Christ,
“All authority in heaven and
on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the
Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I
am with you always, to the end of the age.”
This command challenges us to engage people, because it
can only be fully obeyed by coming near and being involved in people’s lives.
In Jesus’ ministry, he didn’t just preach, he was involved in the
lives of those around Him. The Pharisees often used this fact as a means for
accusing Jesus. “Now the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing
near to hear him. And the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled, saying, ‘This man
receives sinners and eats with them.’” The Pharisees were upset because Jesus
engaged “sinners” in such a personal way.
This disturbed them. How could a righteous man associate with these
“sinners”? This truth doesn’t just strike and disturb the heart of the
Pharisees, it disturbs my heart as well. I prefer being aloof, distant, and
safe. I don’t want to touch someone who
is dirty or smelly. I don’t want to bring someone who is needy and annoying
into my life. . . .
But God loves us, and He knows the richness of what
it means to minister to the poor. And He knows that these riches cannot be
gained from being far away from the poor. He knows the joy of what it will be
like in our lives if we love as Christ loved. If we engage people as Christ
engaged people. And this is why He commands it and why He has ordained that
there will always be the poor in the land. There is richness as the poor and
rich interact with each other. They both desperately need each other, neither
one being better than the other, but both being richer for the other. James
writes,
“Let the lowly
brother boast in his exaltation, and the rich in his humiliation, because like
a flower of the grass he will pass away. For
the sun rises with its scorching heat and withers the grass; its flower falls,
and its beauty perishes. So also will the rich man fade away in the midst of
his pursuits. . . . My brothers, show no
partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory.
For if a man wearing a gold ring and fine clothing comes into your assembly,
and a poor man in shabby clothing also comes in, and if you pay attention to
the one who wears the fine clothing and say, “You sit here in a good place,”
while you say to the poor man, “You stand over there,” or, “Sit down at my
feet,” have you not then made distinctions
among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts? Listen, my beloved
brothers, has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in
faith and heirs of the kingdom, which he has promised to those who love him?
But you have dishonored the poor man. Are not the rich the ones who oppress
you, and the ones who drag you into court? Are they not the ones who blaspheme
the honorable name by which you were called?”
Where do we find our riches in how we interact with people - are
we seeking prestige and comfort or are we seeking something that far outweighs
the riches of this world? We need the poor, the physically, emotionally, and
mentally challenged, the orphan, the unwanted, and the downtrodden in our
lives. These people are not people to be sat down at our feet, they are to sit
with us and near us. Do we realize that what we have from this world is so
fragile and fading, but it is in these interactions with others in the church
both rich and poor that we gain something that is eternal? This happens as we
in a very personal and engaging way preach the Gospel to one another and come
together as the Body of Christ.
So we don’t see ministry to the poor as something we do for others
to help them. We do pursue relationships because we desperately need them as a
part of our lives, and we need them to speak the Gospel into our lives,
reminding us of the love of Christ. Therefore aloofness or setting the poor at
our feet or in the back of the room is not ok with us. We see them as a
treasure and desperately want them to be a part of our lives, so that in their
riches, they can serve us. And my hope is that those who are poor materially in
this world, but rich in faith, will also not stand aloof and keep their
distance from those of us who need the riches of faith that they have to
offer. Because when it comes down to it,
we are all poor and in need of one another in the body of Christ, and we must
engage each other and be involved in each other’s lives.
Paul
writes,
“So
if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any
participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by
being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one
mind. Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more
significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own
interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among
yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of
God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself
nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.
And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the
point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and
bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus
every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every
tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”
We have to remember, we are not equal with God, our
kingdoms are not what we live for. We no longer live for ourselves. We live for
something far better. We have laid our lives down for the Gospel. When it comes
to the poor, the destitute, the broken, our purpose is not to just address a
physical or social need or injustice (although this is important), but to
address and engage the person and show them Jesus, because God in such a mighty
and personal way engaged us with a powerful love.
Scripture reading:
Read these verses and discuss what they mean to you and in regards to
ministering to the poor.
1 Corinthians 1:26-31
For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise
according to worldly standards, not many were
powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the
world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the
strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are
not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. And because of
him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us
wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, so that, as
it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”
Luke
6:32-36
“If
you love those who love you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners love
those who love them. And if you do
good to those who do good to you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners
do the same. And if you lend to those from whom you
expect to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to
get back the same amount. But love your enemies, and do
good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and
you will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the
evil. Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful.
Questions:
Jesus didn’t just preach he met physical needs as well, why?
When is giving a handout engaging the poor and when is it only making
our consciences feel better, but in reality not engaging the person? When is it
showing the Gospel?
Who do we value in this world? Are the poor and destitute, people that
we desire as a treasure?
In ministering to the “undeserving poor” what does it mean to engage
them?
Do you engage with people that are different from you, awkward,
or make you feel uncomfortable? Why? What is your view of this attitude?
Johnathan Edwards wrote,
in many cases, we may, by the rules of the gospel, be obliged to give
to others, when we cannot do it without suffering ourselves. As if our
neighbor’s difficulties and necessities be much greater than our own, and we
see that he is not like to be otherwise relieved, we should be willing to
suffer with him, and to take part of his burden on ourselves. Else how is that
rule of bearing one another’s burdens fulfilled? If we be never obliged
to relieve others’ burdens, but when we can do it without burdening ourselves,
then how do we bear our neighbor’s burdens, when we bear no burden at all? Though
we may not have a superfluity, yet we may be obliged to afford relief to others
who are in much greater necessity. As appears by that rule, Luke 3:11, “He that
hath two coats, let him impart to him that hath none; and he that hath meat,
let him do likewise.” — Yea, they who are very poor may be obliged to give for
the relief of others in much greater distress than they. If there be no other
way of relief, those who have the lightest burden are obliged still to take
some part of their neighbor’s burden, to make it the more supportable. A
brother may be obliged to help a brother in extremity, though they are both
very much in want. The apostle commends the Macedonian Christians, that they
were liberal to their brethren, though they themselves were in deep poverty. 2
Cor. 8:1, 2, “Moreover, brethren, we do you to wit of the grace of God bestowed
on the churches of Macedonia: how in a great trial of affliction, the abundance
of their joy, and their deep poverty, abounded unto the riches of their
liberality.”
What do you think
about this statement?
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