As Christians … We Help People ... Go To HeavenSample

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We Help People ...

Christians should be the most helpful people in any community. We are compelled to love the poor by clothing, teaching and feeding them. Practically speaking, that means Christian students should look around the lunchroom for someone alone and ask, “Would you like to sit with me?” It means that the clothes in your closet that don’t get worn but are still in good shape, should be on someone else’s back. I don’t mind at all returning home from a mission trip with an empty suitcase.

A word of caution: If you only minister to those less fortunate than you, you can start to feel a false sense of impact—a world in which you are never socially at risk and always praised for your compassion. Everyone is for feeding the homeless on a Saturday morning, but you are considered a fanatic to verbally share with your boss on Monday the change Christ has brought to your life. Of course, it is important to minister to the poor, but God’s will is that we would impact the homeless person and the boss. The real risk comes when we minister to a peer or to someone higher on the social “food chain” than us. Now there is a risk, because there we stand to lose status or respect because of our beliefs. So often we drift to a safe place of defining impact as raising a person’s physical status for a few hours.

Not every need is physical, nor is every needy person poor. As humans we are physical, social, emotional and spiritual; therefore, we have needs in each area. The discerning impact player sees the area of need and steps in to help. We help people in various ways. The teen needs friends, and so sports and activities are often the way to their heart. The married couple needs to decrease the “ice in the house,” so a listening ear can show them the possibilities of a marriage under His watch. The down and out are not the only ones in need; there are plenty of up and outers too.

The point is, as Christians, we help people’s short-term needs but we don’t stop there. Short-term help allows us to take the next (and scariest) step of opening our mouths to share the claims of Jesus. It is far easier to open your wallet, your closet or your kitchen than to open your heart and mouth. As a result, we stop too early, satisfied to only make this earth “a better place to go to hell from.”