If we profess to be God’s people, our purpose on this earth is to be the hands and feet of Jesus, now that He is no longer physically here…
Galatians 2:20 “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me…”
If the same Jesus lives within us today who walked the earth 2000 years ago, then the way we react to the situations around us should not be any different than the way He did—hence the commonly quoted question in the face of difficult decisions, “What would Jesus do?“
This question has been especially on my mind lately in the midst of the pain expressed by the black community here in North America. Words cannot express how much I love my many black brothers and sisters. Several of them were God’s chosen instruments to show me what His love truly looked like in my time of greatest need. Back in college when I would be asked (with innocent curiosity from well-meaning individuals) if there was a reason why most of my closest friends were black, or why I chose to attend a predominantly black church, all I could do was shrug my shoulders and say, “They’re my family.” The truth of the matter is that there is only one race—the human race, created in God’s image. Any divisions within that human race based upon something as foolish as where we fall on the skin tone spectrum, or any other feature, have been created by the enemy to make us forget that we all came from the same two parents.
Even so, when our family members are hurting, we feel it. Everything within us wants to do something to help take the pain away. Yet at the same time, I’ve learned the hard lesson well, that it’s never wise to let our decisions, our actions, or our words, be driven by our emotions, for “the heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it?” (Jeremiah 17:9)
So in putting my emotions aside, and seeking wisdom from God’s Word alone, He has helped me draw out some principles from the life of His Son, that I hope will be a blessing to you as well. He first brought me to the well-known parable of the lost sheep…
Matthew 18:12-14 “What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them goes astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine and go to the mountains to seek the one that is straying? And if he should find it, assuredly, I say to you, he rejoices more over that sheep than over the ninety-nine that did not go astray. Even so it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.”
This parable is primarily an illustration of how Jesus goes out of His way to seek out those who have wandered away from Him. However, in striving to reflect the character of Jesus in the way we treat others who are in any type of distress, I believe we can glean important principles to apply to today’s situation as well. So let’s break down the story in this context…
Out of one hundred sheep, there is one who is experiencing distress. His life appears to be in greater danger than the rest of the flock, and thus he is not experiencing the same level of peace and security that they are experiencing. So what does the Good Shepherd do?
Does He ignore the predicament of the lost sheep?
Does He pray and patiently wait for the lost sheep to find his own way back to the fold?
Does He send a letter to the lost sheep, telling him that there’s no reason for him to fear; assuring him that God is always watching over him wherever he goes, and that he can rest in peace knowing Who he belongs to?
No. He goes out to find him and show him how much he is loved. Why? Because actions speak louder than words. The sheep needs to experience the Shepherd’s care for him.
And in order to do this, what choice does the Shepherd make?
He leaves the ninety-nine. They are fenced in, they are okay, they are not fearful for their lives in that moment. Does this mean that the life of the lost sheep matters more to Him than the others? Of course not. But he is the one in need right now. And so Jesus sees fit to devout His attention for a time to going to seek out the one who is in distress, and ministering to him personally.
I’m sure many of you can relate to the fact that while reading God’s Word can teach us everything we need to know about Him, it really doesn’t hit home for us until we experience Him personally in our lives; until we can testify to the fact that we have seen and known that His love for us is real.
The same principle applies in seeking to minister to those around us. We can preach to them all we want, but until they see it move us to some sort of action of love on their behalf, to do what we can to help relieve the suffering they are experiencing, it means nothing.
James 2:14-17 “What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him? If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, and one of you says to them, “Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,” but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit? Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.”
James 1:27 “Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.”
And here is, I believe, where we find the balancing act that many of us are struggling with. How do we minister effectively to those who are in distress, while doing so in a way that does not entangle ourselves in the strife and division that the devil is rejoicing in right now?
And I believe the answer is more simple than we realize—Do what Jesus did. He is to be our example in all things, and He was able to reveal the love of the Father more perfectly than any others who have ever walked the earth, without involving Himself in the politics, organizations, or movements of the world.
How did He do this?
He went to the people where they were, and made sure they knew that they were loved, and that they were heard—that their pain and their concerns were valid. He did not belittle, or dismiss, or ignore the struggles of any. He was slow to speak, and quick to listen. And He truly listened, that those who He spoke with knew that He genuinely wanted to hear and understand what was on their hearts. He lived by the principle that “they will never care how much you know, until they know how much you care.”
He ministered to the individual, and allowed the ripple effect to do its work. One example is the cultural bias He confronted in His conversation with the Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well (John 4:3-42). Not only did many Jews dislike and shun Samaritans, but it was considered inappropriate for men to speak to women outside of their kinship circles in public. But Jesus lived what He preached, that there is no partiality in God—that there is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female (Gal. 3:28)—but that all are equal in His eyes. This particular woman also had a poor reputation, which is why she came to the well at noon, in the heat of the day. She was even avoiding contact with her own peers because of their unkind treatment of her, or perhaps simply because of her own shame and fear of being treated unkindly. But then Jesus came to meet her—not in the comfort of her home, but in the very midst of the act prompted by her fear and self-condemnation. Being a Jew, and a man, He unreservedly asked her to help Him by drawing some water for Him to drink. In this He proved that He trusted her goodwill and judgment, and saw her as a friend and not an enemy. He then engaged her in conversation, proving that she was worth His time and care. And just in case she was thinking, “Well He doesn’t know my reputation…”, He revealed that He knew exactly who she was and what kind of life she was living, and that it didn’t change His love for her in any way.
The love He displayed and the beautiful truths He shared with her—that ethnic differences have no impact among those worshiping God in Spirit and truth, and that He was the One sent to bring salvation to all people—so emboldened and empowered her identity as God’s daughter that she fearlessly ran back into the city, straight into the crowds of people she had gone out of her way to avoid. She shared all she had experienced, even shamelessly reminding them of the things that had gained her a bad reputation among them. Seeing this transformation in her and hearing her testimony so moved the people that many of them believed in the words of Jesus, and begged Him to come and stay with them longer. I propose to you that, regardless of the magnitude of the impact, if the words we speak have an impact of any other nature, they are not of God. We are here to encourage, embolden, and affirm the identity of God’s sons and daughters, that they will be unable to resist sharing this same love with others.
We could go on to discuss the many stories of Jesus healing the blind, the lame, the demon-possessed, etc., but in each case we see those who were personally ministered to having an immeasurable impact on their family members, neighbours, and friends, and this influence even spreading to reach the hearts of religious and civil leaders. The life of Jesus proves that bringing healing to the hearts of individuals has a powerful ripple effect, and is the only effective starting place to initiate healing in the mindsets of families, communities, cities, and even nations.
The ways that God is calling us to reach out and minister right now will look different for each person. We all have different God-given skills and strengths, different access to opportunities, and different spheres of influence. But that’s what prayer is for! Jesus never started a single day without spending His first hours in communion with His Father. God is faithful to lead us to do exactly the work He wants us to do if we seek His guidance. But I can tell you this—
We can all be a genuine listening ear to those who aren’t feeling heard. We can encourage open discussion of uncomfortable issues—being humble and teachable, and desirous to learn and grow together.
James 1:19 “… Let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath”
I Corinthians 8:2 “And if anyone thinks that he knows anything, he knows nothing yet as he ought to know.”
We can all validate the experiences of our brothers and sisters, and seek to put ourselves in their shoes, that our sympathy may become empathy, as Jesus had for us.
Isaiah 64:9 “In all their affliction, He was afflicted…”
We can all speak and live in ways that show that we believe in one human race, with many beautiful physical differences that have developed and manifested over these 6000 years. We can celebrate this diversity and praise our Creator that we are all “fearfully and wonderfully made.”
Acts 17:26 “And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth,”
We can all share and live out the truth of God’s impartial, unconditional love for all people in our families, friend groups, schools, and workplaces. And if words or actions are manifested around us which reveal a contrary mindset, we can respond by speaking more truth in love, to reprove prejudice in a way that will have a lasting impact.
And we can all encourage our brothers and sisters, everywhere along the beautiful spectrum of humanity, to embrace their identity as priceless sons and daughters of God, and rest in that confidence and peace and dignity, no matter what trials they may face.
But beyond these daily efforts, we shouldn’t be afraid to go to the front lines, to seek out those who are hurting, and help them personally and practically, as Jesus did.
In the midst of rallies, protests, and political demonstrations, God has a work for His people to do in sharing truth and hope and light with those participating. And within any groups or communities that are feeling hurt and oppressed, God has a work for His people to do in strengthening the members of those communities. By following Christ’s method, God can use us as missionaries right here in our own countries. We don’t have to fly overseas to find people who need to see evidence of God’s love for them. This situation has surely brought to light that more of that love is needed right here at home.
My prayer for all of us professing Christianity is certainly that we will spend less time sitting in churches becoming engorged on spiritual “milk,” and start partaking of the “meat” of taking up our cross and following Christ into His labours for humanity—That we’ll have the courage to leave the ninety-nine.
I’ll close with the verses below, that they may encourage each of us to continue to look to Christ’s example, and to see every evidence of human suffering as an opportunity and a privilege to share more of His love.
I John 3:16-18 “By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. But whoever has this world’s goods, and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him? My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth.”
Matthew 5:16 “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.”
