“Where’s the need?”
This Summer Maximum Impact Student Ministries has been focusing on what God thinks about the needy, the broken, the poor. I believe it’s not that we DON’T care about those in need. The reality is, most of us, do not pause long enough to see past our own noses. In His word, God, clearly, teaches us that we are to be light in a dark world (Matthew 5:16). We are to clothe the naked and feed the hungry (Matthew 25)!
Laws are supposed to never be broken. Except, I would argue, The Law of Reciprocity. It says we do things, with an expectation, to get something back in return. In other words, “I’ll scratch your back IF you scratch mine. But ain’t no way am I going to scratch your back if you aren’t going to scratch mine!” Yet Jesus not only broke this law. He absolutely demolished it. He takes the law of reciprocity and smashes it in to a million pieces! He says we are to go to those who have absolutely no ability to repay us… and it’s THOSE we are invest in. The Bible says doing just that, coupled with purity, is pure and faultless “religion” (James 1:27).
June 26-July 2… 31 people from Maximum Impact Student Ministries went to Tacoma Washington to put this very principle in to practice. Partnering with Network ministries, we all had different tasks to perform, yet our end goal was the same for all. Our goal? To look UPON people as Jesus would; not AT them. When Jesus saw people he had compassion on them… and he responded in love (Matthew 14:14). If Jesus looked AT them he would have saw sick people and thought, “Yuck! I really need to stay away!” If that would have been Jesus’s character he would have been insignificant and we wouldn’t be talking about him today. As it is, Jesus is the most significant figure in human history.
While on earth, Jesus never did not take a throne. He never did command an army. He never got rich and he never asked for any tangible from the government. Instead, Jesus made himself the least of these, and served those in need… even to the point of death – Yes even death on a cross! (Philippians 2).
Which is exactly why we dedicated our whole summer to finding the need around us. We have been looking throughout Scripture at what Jesus asks from us. What we have found has been nothing less than remarkable? We cannot out give Jesus. We can not out ‘righteous’ Jesus. We can not out ‘miracle’ Jesus. He is special. He is unique. He is one of a kind. There is no one like Him!
Jesus looked UPON people. We look AT them. Yet Romans 12:1-2 is clear that we can be transformed by the “RENEWING OF OUR MIND” – Which means we can change! What if the law of reciprocity became nonexistent in our lives? Does it mean, at that point, we are living out Jesus’ command to die to ourselves daily? And if we die to ourselves daily that would surely mean we are putting other people first. And if we are putting other people first we can safely say life is no longer about us. And if life is no longer about us, then we can begin to answer the question we began with and we have been asking all summer.
“Where’s the need?” Well… Look around. Don’t look at – Look upon. And break the law, because the law is selfish and Jesus absolutely is not!
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