Philippians 2:14-14
"Do EVERYTHING without complaining or arguing, SO THAT you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like the stars in the universe as you hold out the Word of life..."
I don't know about ya'll, but there are times I have a hard time not grumbling. I like to say that I throw a really, REALLY great pity party. I have it catered, I've got the cool finger sandwiches with the crusts cut off and everything (insert eye rolling emoji here) But the truth is, the older I have gotten the shorter those parties have become and the nastier those catered sandwiches taste.
The trick, I have found (if that's what you want to call it) is to step outside of yourself and put others above YOU, and suddenly the things you're complaining about don't seem as important.
Let's see what our author friends have to say about service to others:
This last chapter opens with another couple, Ben and Erin who met and fell in love when they were teenagers. Because they both had challenging childhoods, they found in each other what they lacked at home. Their relationship quickly turned physical and Erin soon found out she was pregnant. This shame led them to rush headlong into marriage with really no understanding how to live together or love one another.
Ben, not yet a man, struggled with his new found responsibilities of husband and father. Truth be told he was more interested in the latest video game than spending time with his wife and child. He grew up as a "latch-key" child and had never been accountable to anyone.
Erin, was a child of divorce, and like most children of divorce, her parents tried to apologize for their divorce by indulging in her every whim and giving her gifts. She came to expect this treatment as an expression of love, and Ben had neither the desire nor the resources to meet those expectations.
Erin's disappointment coupled with Ben's sense of failure married to their inability to resolve conflict turned what they once thought was a fairy tale marriage into a war zone. It was on evening as their conflict spilled out onto their apartment stairwell where another couple asked if they could help.Erin began to meet with the wife and Ben developed a relationship with the husband, and together they spent time with them as couples. These new people were part of a local church that excelled in welcoming struggling people, and discipling them in GRACE.
So what was it that drew Ben and Erin to this anonymous couple?
Ben and Erin were at their most fearful, hopeless, and desperate place yet this couple, by the example of their lives spoke of the reality of the power and hope there is in Jesus. Ben and Erin instinctively trusted them and this anonymous couple were willing to have their lives disrupted by the messiness that was Ben and Erin's marriage.
What the authors point out is:
IF YOU have experienced humility, patience, or godly conflict YOU are experiencing the work of the King as He builds His Kingdom. Because of this WHENEVER you speak of change in your life, your relationships, etc. you should not be drawing attention to YOUR wisdom, YOUR relational savvy, YOUR personal giftedness but you should be giving the glory to God.The kingdom of God is not just for private enjoyment, but for public display. People may see the work of the kingdom in our lives, but not recognize the King.
An example of this in my own life? When I am becoming friends with someone and they are getting to know me and they start to understand the magnitude of STUFF I have been through, I am often asked, "How did you turn out so...'NORMAL'? I always reply: Jesus. Without Him, I would be an even hotter mess than I am right now, then we laugh and laugh.
The authors remind us that the Bible speaks of the Kingdom of God in many ways but that Jesus used several metaphors SPECIFICALLY to speak to its visible nature. One of them is in Matthew 5:13-16 where He says this:
"YOU are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men. YOU are the light of the world. A city on a hill that can not be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven."
The authors tell us this image of salt challenges our views on isolationism, because salt is only effective as a retardant to decay when it is in close contact with the decaying substance.
Let that sink in for a moment.
All those "Pastors" that preach how we need to separate ourselves from the world? Kind of makes you rethink the way they have taught you to be "in the world but not of it" doesn't it? David Mathis over at Desiring God wrote an awesome article about that very topic, you can find it here.
This is uncomfortable because it pulls us away from the comfortable relationships we have created that have been transformed by the King. (and even those are not perfected).
YET (and I LOVE THIS QUOTE
"We are most true to our identity and calling when we live in the midst of broken people"
There are many ways for you to minister, here are a few:
*A struggling family?
*Someone sad, lonely, discouraged?
*A teenager who needs to see how a family functions?
*Where are there needs for service in your community?
*Is there an elderly person in your life who needs companionship?
*Is there someone in a stressed financial situation, what can you do to help?
*Can you volunteer at a school, or boys and girls club?
In order to be salt though, we HAVE to be certain that God entered this sinful world to redeem it. We also have to have been humbled by the messiness of our own sin and confident of the grace of God to change us that we can pass that confidence on to others. Remember how you felt when you needed that lifesaver called grace? And the beauty of it all is that He uses all of that messiness, theirs and ours to spur all of us on towards growth in HIM.
AMAZING
Ok, so here's the thing, being salt requires that we step out and rub up against other people...being light means welcoming people IN so that they can SEE that the Kingdom HAS come by the impact it has on your relationships. OUR relationships are meant to be beacons in a dark world. The authors remind us that one of the most compelling things about us is our own need for grace. If we assume the posture of "I have arrived" then what can we share with those who are hopeless? It is only in the context of our weakness and our struggles that the love and power of the King are most clearly seen.
Inviting people into your light means they get to experience ALL of you, your victories as well as your failures. The authors spoke of having people live in their home, and my husband and I have had people live with us as well. You can't hide who you are 24/7. It is what it is. So in all of it God's glory is revealed, in both the amazing and I feel even the times we feel like we have failed. It is in the getting back uo where He is most glorified.
Here are some more ideas for you:
*Can you foster a child?
*Invite a co-worker to your home for dinner.
*Invite a lonely person to spend the holidays with your family
*Is there someone you know in need of respite? Offer them space in your home
Ministry IS a form of worship.
Digest that for just a moment.When you serve others, you bare actually serving THE King. Loving Christ always extends itself outward, thankfulness ALWAYS results in sharing, and realizing the depth of your own forgiveness will result in willingness to forgive others. The gratitude we have for the unrelenting pursuit God pursued with us will cause us to pursue others, even when they do not want to be pursued, and thankfulness to Christ for His willingness to enter our messy world will make us willing to enter someone else's mess.
Another great quote:
"Our worship and theology will always be on display in the way we treat others."
Finally, Christ closed the gap between our horizontal and vertical relationships with these startling and humbling words in Matthew 25:34-40
"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. 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, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you visited me." Then the righteous will answer Him, "Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go and visit you?" The King will reply, "I tell you he truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine you did for me."
That's all He's asking of us....its not that hard. Not one person on this planet is un-redeemable. Not a single one. Every, single one has a story, and it might be messy, but God takes our mess and makes something beautiful out of them.
XOXO
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