I recently came back from a service project to Louisiana with HMCC of Chicago. Throughout our trip, we went through the book of James together. One of the things that struck me about James is its practical relevance to everyday life. "Love your neighbor as yourself." The real question behind that command is, "Who is my neighbor?" This is the question that Jesus answered in the Parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10).
Our neighbors are not the few we choose to be neighbors to, but all who God brings our way. As I thought about my own life and our church community, I asked myself the same question in a different way. "Do I make space for others in my life?" This is what James rebukes the church in Jerusalem about in vv. 1-4. There were "good seats" saved for the privileged. The rest were made to sit on the floor. I wonder how this plays out in my own life. There are some that are worth my time and others that I'd rather ignore. As I thought about our church community, I wondered how we could use our "space" to love our neighbors and minister to all.
This is one of the things that excites me about the Destiny Campaign. I believe it will open up opportunities for us to bring the door of the church to our neighbors on campus and in our community. I pray that we will heed James' warning about our own tendency to choose favorites.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment