Blog

by David Odegard

The local church stands in the gap for all the people on the planet. Pressed on every side, shaken to the core of our being, through shipwreck and storm, the local church continues to hold out the good news that Jesus Christ’s claims have validity because he is risen from the dead. This week the local church will give away millions of dollars, give away thousands of tons of food, plant crops on every continent for someone else, provide clean drinking water to hundreds of thousands of people all over the globe, make soup for displaced persons on every continent and in the inner cities of the world, and even feed our enemies who persecute Christians. The local church even has giant shipping boats that traverse the globe filled with food, medicine, Christmas shoe boxes with toys, and tons of other things.

Right now Samaritan’s Purse is in northern Iraq taking care of those displaced by isis (I refuse to capitalize it). Right now we have planes carrying medicine to every continent and Christian doctors volunteering their time to administer them! Right now the local church is deeply entrenched in the worst neighborhoods of the world; we are in the slums of Syria, Palestine, Cairo, and Calcutta (remember Mother Theresa?), the slums of Haiti, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Russia, and even the slums of the United States. We are everywhere because our Lord said to us, “You feed them.”

These actions are the tip of iceberg; the depth of Christian spirituality is unrivaled in the world. There is nothing like it. And from the depths of our devotion to our beloved Savior and God, Jesus Christ, flow all of these acts of compassion for the world. Not only that, but God heals people supernaturally through Christians every day. Christians have millions of testimonials, from those in the pages of Scripture to those occurring this morning, of people who have been dramatically healed by God. “Though rich, for your sake we became poor.”

Satan controls the world, we are aware of that, so we don’t expect much favorable coverage from the media. We expect humanistic institutions to get in our way. Unfortunately, the federal government is one of those institutions at this point in our history. I am not anti-government, even though I have railed against it a lot in this series on Biblical charity. It is because they are always bumbling around and making things worse. They are inept at something that Christians have been doing for 2000 years. They forget that the church preserved the Roman Civilization far past its expiration date because of our leadership ability and our compassion. Alas, though the government steals half of our 5 loaves and 2 fishes, we will feed the whole world with what is left because of the power of God in Christ. Join us!

The showing of compassion is one of three central elements to the ongoing mission of Christ in our world. The calling of the Christian church is as unique in this world as Christ’s ministry was unique while He walked the earth. We are called to live in a far more dramatic way than clocking in and paying our bills. We are privileged with the burden of Christ’s rescue mission to the whole world.

At the church where I worship, we have three activities (or perhaps four) that are central to who we are: 1) preaching, teaching, communication, 2) prayer, and 3) love.

First, we preach God’s Word. We also teach it, put it in birthday cards, sing about it, and talk about it in conversation. Second, prayer is central to who we are. We pray for everyone in the church and in our community every week. We pray specific prayers that require specific answers. We worship God in the congregation as an act of prayer and worship. Third, we love people. We do this in as many practical ways as we can think up. Actually, our church is very creative in this area. This would include our support for Christian pre-school, a food pantry, benevolence (which has accountability attached), and many other ways. Come visit sometime and I will show you around.

The fourth activity is passive in nature: it is waiting. Number four is time. We acknowledge that God has called us to this for the long haul and we continue to do it, expecting our reward in the future.

Christian, God has called you into a dramatic life of preaching, prayer, and love. You have unlimited resources at your disposal when you are obedient to Him. Join with a local church somewhere, roll up your sleeves, and get to work with the rest of us. The local church is the hope of the world. Scarcity is not our master; we have strategies that work. We need you fully in. Join us.

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