Let Me Clarify My Position

Alright -- Let me try to put a little more flesh on the rant of frustration that I posted earlier. I don't hate the church, and I am not one of those "anti-church" guys. I love the "church", and I love our church. I am one of those guys that "calls a spade a spade", and I tend to do that as soon as I see that "spade." I do this with pretty much everything in my life, including myself. So when I see things that we, as the church, should be doing because of the Biblical commission that is given to us, I think we should do them without excuse.


The thing that probably gets me the most irritated, is someone saying "I should probably be helping that person," but then gives a list of excuses to rationalize away the reason that they are not doing it. We will not always agree with every one's decisions, theology, or lifestyle. This does not excuse me from helping that person when they are in need. We are in an difficult place in the U.S. right now. There are alot of people that have lived outside of their means and life has come down hard on them. Do we say to those people "Sorry, we cannot help you because you made your own bed"?


There are some that would say we need to give a "hand up and not a hand out." I would strongly disagree with this mentality. I do not see anywhere in scripture where Jesus qualified someone before he helped them. Did he give the 5000 people on the mountainside a "hand up or a hand out"? Did he give the 10 leapers a "a hand up or a hand out"? Where did he ever require a specific kind or response?


We are simply instructed to "love others." We are to then allow the Holy Spirit to work in that person's life. We should also then be prepared to invest in that person's life in a personal way. It is usually not the act of kindness that helps change a person's life, but a true relationship with another person and God that helps to redirect a persons life.

The major difficulty with all of this is at the very beginning. Getting started is so tough because we find so many reasons not to be involved. My encouragement to you would be this:

• pray to know where or with whom you should get involved.


• then GET INVOLVED. Stop making excuses and get busy.


• continuously pray for God's guidance and wisdom to impact those relationships in a positive way.


• don't predetermine what you think should be the outcome of your involvement. God's plans are often bigger and regularly travel a different path than ours.

So that's my 2 cents worth.