As I was walking and praying at lunch I was also meditating on the latest blog entry on being desperate for Jesus. This verse kept popping up in my thoughts…Mt 5:6 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.This whole concept of desperation… Spiritual longing… Spiritual desire… Being willing to sacrifice all to know Jesus, and his power and his suffering. I want to be like a starving man devouring the word of God and guzzling the living water.On the flip side… Our community, our city is in a state of spiritual starvation. The truth of the matter is that they are so spiritual hungry and thirsty they are willing to drink out of the worlds toilet bowl because they have not seen another alternative. For them to see the alternative… missional, Christ followers are required to position themselves next to them pulling their head out of the toilet and showing the springs of living water that flows from Jesus.Missional living is messy. Pulling people head out of the spiritual toilet is not pleasant. Real people, with real baggage. Missional living required patience, passion, love… Sacrifice of time and resources (read money).Jesus is the best example of this. Jesus had a “touch” ministry. Read the Gospels and look at how many times he “touched” people. Physically, put his hand on them and got their dirt and sweat and disease on himself. The blind, the paralyzed, the possessed, the lepers, the whores, the diseased, the “half breeds”, the outcast, the sex addicts, snotty-nosed children… Who are we… Who am I “touching”. There is such a mix of jobs, interest, hobbies at Sojourn that we all have a unique opportunity to “touch” a broad cross-section of our community.
To put this in context take a listen to Shaun Garman speak on Biblical Missiology as he addresses Acts 29 Network pastors and church planters. This might change your life…
Link: http://www.acts29network.org/sermon/biblical-missiology
2 Comments
“touch ministry” Fabulous. It is so needed, getting our hands dirty, letting people know God loves them through our hands/actions not our lips.
A portion from one author who influenced CS Lewis:
I see a little child whose eager hands
Search the thick stream that drains the crowded street
For possible things hid in its current slow.
Near by, behind him, a great palace stands,
Where kings might welcome nobles to their feet.
Soft sounds, sweet scents, fair sights there only go –
There the child’s father lives, but the child does not know.
— George Macdonald (Diary of an Old Soul, September 26)