Well the obvious answer is Jesus. But with a church on every street corner, a minister in every neighborhood, things are just not progressing as they should. Church attendance is down by and large, especially among younger generations, and and social standards are dropping at an alarming rate.
Can you imagine even 20 years ago that (in America at least) things would look as they do now? I highly doubt it. So that begs the question, what can we do to right the ship?
More messages won't do... I mean anyone can upload http://www.youtube.com/ and find a message about sin, grace, and Jesus...
More programs won't do... they can go into any secular organization for those and they would probably enjoy those more.
What about love? Hmmm now there's a thought. This word love is just a word without any action to it. Telling someone I love you while beating them down is just empty bellowing. A tree with leaves. A car without fuel. It's useless.
What does the scriptures say about love?
Love is from God, in fact... "God is love." 1 John 4:16 indeed we love only because He loved us first. 1 John 4:19
But what does Christlike love look like?
John 15:13
Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.
Christlike love is God first, others second, myself last. Yes even I am behind my own enemies. Remember Jesus prayed for those who put Him on the cross and asked the Father to forgive them, He even kneeled at Judas' feet and washed them.
Luke 6:31
Do to others as you would have them do to you.
It is the attitude that saysif I were hungry but unable to buy my own food, I would someone to give me something to eat. If I were thristy, I would want a cup of water. If I were naked or cold, I would want a coat or blanket. I get the sense Jesus taught this as one of His most profound teachings on the Judgement was this, as found in Matthew 25:
34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’
37 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
[I]40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, [B]you did for me[/B].’[/I]
John, the disciple closest to Jesus, the one most in tune with His heart of compassion and love, explained this even in 1 John 3:
16 This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters. 17 If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person?
There's that idea of sacrifice again. Others before myself. The world has people who give love and compassion on those who return the favor to them. Jesus told us we must go beyond that!
Luke 6:32-34
32 “If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them. 33 And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do that. 34 And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, expecting to be repaid in full.
What the world needs is an exhibition of God's love. The love that conquers the coldest of hearts. There are many though who profess to love Jesus that you would be better off crossing a rattlesnake in the middle of the Sahara desert. Surely one who has God's love in them can do better than that.
We must do better. Not that all of us are that way. Indeed most who I converse with here seem that you would be very nice people to encounter. But when we see a fellow believer bad mouth someone, or mistreat them, or use them. Do we confront the sin? Or do we let it ride so we can keep a friend? We all are the body of Christ, we must do what is necessary for the mutual edification of the saints.
James would agree with this...
James 2:1-4
My brothers and sisters, believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ must not show favoritism. 2 Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in filthy old clothes also comes in. 3 If you show special attention to the man wearing fine clothes and say, “Here’s a good seat for you,” but say to the poor man, “You stand there” or “Sit on the floor by my feet,” 4 have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?
I have seen people walk into a church with street clothes on and (I kid you not) all 300 in the congregation gasped at the same time. Not one millosecond later that individual and his entourage walked right back out. That is not what Jesus wants from us!
Paul called it being a "living sacrifice". Dead to ourselves yet alive to God. Being alive to God means being alive to others.
Romans 12:1
Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.
Like the "T" of the cross, the vertical intersects with the horizontal. How we treat others is a direct reflection of how we love God.
1 John 4:20-21
20 Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen. 21 And he has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister.
The world needs love. Jesus' love. The love that is ours through the indwelling, the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.
Romans 5:5
And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.
Now, I doubt many of us here have "big and important" ministries (whatever that means) I mean we are on CF. So what's the point?
A man was walking along a deserted beach at sunset. As he walked he could see a young boy in the distance, as he drew nearer he noticed that the boy kept bending down, picking something up and throwing it into the water.
Time and again he kept hurling things into the ocean.
As the man approached even closer, he was able to see that the boy was picking up starfish that had been washed up on the beach and, one at a time he was throwing them back into the water.
The man asked the boy what he was doing, the boy replied,"I am throwing these washed up starfish back into the ocean, or else they will die through lack of oxygen. "But", said the man, "You can't possibly save them all, there are thousands on this beach, and this must be happening on hundreds of beaches along the coast. You can't possibly make a difference."
The boy looked down, frowning for a moment; then bent down to pick up another starfish, smiling as he threw it back into the sea. He replied,
"I made a huge difference to that one!"
Making a difference, no matter how small at first. Ripples in the water are always small when first struck, and yet notice how they grow! So perhaps one person doesn't make a big difference in the grand scheme of 7 billion people. But you never know, and just one to Jesus is the equivalent of the whole.
As you go throughout your daily routine, just ask the Holy Spirit to show you someone He can love on through you! Look for chances to show Christ's love. If He asks you to lay hands on someone, do it. If He asks you to give a dollar, or pound, or whatever, do it. If He asks you to sacrifice yourself for someone else, do it. Remember Jesus did for you. I will comply myself with this and together we can become what Jesus died to make the church, His very body here on Earth.
God bless you!
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