Putting Faith into Action
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Dear Friends,
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It was nearly midnight. I was sitting in the parking lot of the high school. My daughter was in the marching band. They were late getting back from their competition. I was frustrated because it was a Saturday night. I like to get to bed early because my Sundays are extremely busy. I like to joke that when you work one day a week, you better be wide awake and ready to go.
A few minutes later my daughter came out. She apologized for being late and all I said was "That's okay." But when I got home, I started complaining to my wife. That's when I received the "wake up call." She suggested that instead of complaining about it, I should get involved. "Join the pit crew!" she said. "Not only will you have something to do, but you will be bonding with your daughter."
We like to moan and groan about things, don't we? I think it is part of our DNA going right back to the Fall recorded in Genesis 3. It doesn't say it directly, but I can almost hear Adam and Eve start grumbling when the serpent suggests that God was trying to keep something from them when he told them they couldn't eat fruit from the tree in the middle of the garden.
There is a meme on social media. It says, "Be an encourager! The world has enough critics already." I like that. It suggests that instead of complaining, we should get out there and do something. The world needs more of us living out our faith and becoming a reflection of Jesus Christ. John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist movement, said is best over three hundred years ago.
He declared, "Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as ever you can." Imagine what would happen if instead of complaining about the way things are, we lived out our Christian calling? The truth is that this was happening not that long ago.
Our forebears organized hospitals, colleges, feeding programs for the hungry, prison ministries and housing initiatives. This was long before the government started stepping in to fill the gaps. Look at the history of all the helping agencies in our community and you will find that they were initiated by men and women in our churches and synagogues.
A lot has been written about the fact that people are not stepping up to volunteer like they used to in the past. I wonder if that is because we have begun to think that someone else is going to do it. We leave all the heavy lifting to government agencies. They will take care of it and we can wash our hands of our responsibility. But that isn't what the Bible says.
Simply put, the Bible says that our responsibility lies in working for the Lord, whether it is in “looking after orphans or widows in distress” (James 1:27), giving to the hungry, the naked, visiting those in prison (Matthew 25:35-36), serving in our workplace (Colossians 3:22), or doing whatever we do (Colossians 3:23). The Bible says that we are called to be ambassadors for Christ.
Maybe the reason why so many are complaining is because we Christians aren't answering the call and letting the light of Christ's love shine through us. We aren’t being the hands and feet of Christ. So, let’s do it! Let's embody the words of that Christian gospel song, "They will know we are Christians by our love..." And in the words of Star Trek's Captain Jean Luc Picard, let's “Make it so!"
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God bless. See you in church! I'll be there with Jesus.
Pastor Cal
​You can contact me at calstigers@gmail.com
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