Mirror, Mirror

Often times, churches receive a steady stream of people asking for money.  I've heard all kinds of reasons given for why people want money from our church:  because they couldn't pay their light bill and their electricity got turned off and all the food in their refrigerator went bad and they needed money to buy more food; because they lost everything in Hurricane Harvey (2 years ago) and needed gas to get to Pasadena so they could get money from their sister-in-law; because they needed to pay rent and weren't going to start their new job until next week.  Even as  type this, a flood of faces come through my mind of all the people who have asked us for help and all their reasons for asking swirl together into one, big indiscernible pot of need.  This is reality for many churches.  And quite often, churches begin to become desensitized to the need around them because not only is it perpetual, but also because quite often, it is spurious at best and an outright hustle at worst.  At best, those with legitimate need are looked upon with doubt and suspicion, or at worst, they are overlooked or sent elsewhere, because those who were fraudulent caused church leaders to feel forced to shut the gates of mercy in protection over the church body.  It is in these types of situations in which the bad apples inevitably spoil the whole barrel.

Jesus commands us, "Give to him who asks of you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you" (Matt 5:42).  Jesus did not put conditions on His command for us to help.  He did not give us any guidelines as to how to practically walk this out in the body of believers.  He left that up to us.  And the conditions we place upon that command will reveal how much of God's image we are genuinely capable of reflecting.

Throughout my life, God didn't help me because I deserved it or because I had earned it or because I had proved myself worthy of responsibly handling His help.  God helped me because He is merciful and because unmitigated kindness is a reflection of His character.  Quite frankly, most of the times God helped me, I did not deserve His help, nor was I in a position in which I showed responsible handling of His help after-the-fact.  Quite often I squandered it, and soon found myself right back in another situation in which I needed His help again.  God helped me because of Who He is, not because of who I am.  When I look back over my life, I can only feel gratitude for God not basing His willingness to help me upon my character, but rather, upon His.  I can only feel gratitude for Him helping me again and again, even when I failed and didn't live up to His standards.  I can only feel gratitude for Him helping me, even when I didn't acknowledge His help or show any gratitude at the time.

I believe that Jesus didn't indulge us with specific details on His command to help, because the way in which we help others is a litmus test which not only indicates our level of spiritual maturity, but also how intimately we know God.  It is the simple, mundane actions of our daily lives that shine our true character the most brightly.  It is our daily actions in which we are the least aware of, which reflect what is truly in our heart.  That is why Jesus refers to our basic actions of daily life:  eating, drinking, clothing, hospitality-- when He returns to separate the righteous from the unrighteous.   He tells us that the righteous feed those who are hungry, give drink to those who are thirsty, give hospitality to strangers and clothes to the needy and care to the sick and company to the imprisoned.  The righteous display their truly regenerated heart by treating people with unmitigated kindness in their daily lives.  And they are also completely unaware of their righteousness, "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 to visit You?'" (Matt 25:37-39).  They are unaware that their natural behavior was righteous because it was simply a part of who they are.

I used to think that the greatest impact I was making on people's lives was what I spoke from the pulpit, but I now realize that it's not.  The greatest impact we have upon people's lives is how we treat them.  It is how much of God we reflect in our daily lives.  The purpose of humanity is to reflect God's image.  That's what we were created for, "Then God said, 'Let Us make mankind in our image, in our likeness...'" (Gen 1:26).  We were made to be image bearers of God and to reflect His character in our actions.  We are cut off from knowledge of His character by our sin, but are reconciled back unto Him and are able to know Him through faith in Jesus Christ.  From that moment forward we grow in knowledge of God and with the help of His Holy Spirit, we grow in our ability to reflect His character.  That is why at the end, when Jesus returns to separate the righteous from the unrighteous, His standard of measurement will be how accurately we reflected His image.  Truly, it is our faith in Christ which reconciles us back into relationship with God.  But it is our reflection of His image which is the evidence of that reconciliation.

Mirror, mirror, here on earth

How accurately do you reflect His worth?

"The good man brings good things out of the good treasure of his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil treasure of his heart. For out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks. Why do you call Me 'Lord, Lord,' but do not do what I say?" (Luke 6:45,46)

"So then by their fruit you will recognize them. Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of My Father in heaven." (Matt 7:20,21)

"Then He will say to those on His left, 'Depart from Me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave Me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave Me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite Me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe Me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after Me.' They also will answer, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help You?' He will reply, 'Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for Me.' Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life." (Matt 25:41-46)