Monday: The “Anyway” Principle
A leper approaches Jesus and begs for healing. Conventional wisdom says that this man should be isolated. Jesus, the clean One, touches him and heals him anyway (Matt. 8:1-4). Peter denies Jesus three times during His trial (John 18:1-40). After the resurrection, having searched Peter’s heart, Jesus reinstates him into His service anyway (John 21:1-25).
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God’s church in Corinth is unappreciative of Paul’s authority and influence. Paul serves them anyway (2 Cor. 12:14-15).
This principle of “anyway” or “in spite of” is essential for revealing the character of the One who desires their good.
“Millions upon millions of human souls ready to perish, bound in chains of ignorance and sin, have never so much as heard of Christ’s love for them. Were our condition and theirs to be reversed, what would we desire them to do for us? All this, so far as lies in our power, we are under the most solemn obligation to do for them. Christ’s rule of life, by which every one of us must stand or fall in the judgment, is, ‘Whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them.’ Matthew 7:12.” – Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages, p. 640.
This “golden rule” is foundational to a mind-set of ministry that thinks first of what is good for the ones we are serving instead of what benefits us.
Read Matthew 5:43-47; Luke 6:27, Luke 6:35; Luke 23:34. What crucial point here has Jesus revealed to us in regard to our attitude toward a certain class of people?
Jesus is calling us to show love and be kind to people “in spite of” the fact that they hate you or are your enemies. Notice, too, that Jesus links these acts and this attitude with the character of God Himself. “ ‘But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked’ ” (Luke 6:35, NIV).
| How do we understand the idea that God is “kind to the ungrateful and wicked”? (How does this answer, for example, the question “Why do the wicked sometimes prosper”?) How does Romans 2:4 play into the picture as well? |
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If I were an indigent beggar, not knowing Christ, and selfishness was my motivation, I would want money from you if you were a missionary.
How do you, as a missionary, change my mind to want the things of God and to receive His Spirit and become His son instead of wanting money given to me?
Brother Don,
I would say, "Repent and be born again". The things of this world are but temporary.
When you go to a cemetary you see the date of birth and the date of death written on the headstones most times. Those dates become a starting point and an ending point, like a line starting and ending. BUT, to repent and be born again (in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit), in other words being baptised, that line becomes a 'circle' meaning for ever and ever. God bless.
The problem with saying, "Repent and be born again" is that it may not make much sense to a poor beggar who is not familiar with the language. If you want to communicate you must first of all use language that the listener understands or you may just as well talk gibberish.
If we are confronted with a beggar on the streets and want to do something to really help that person, we may need to sit down with them and listen for a while. That is something we are not good at. Helping that way costs a lot more than money and mostly we are not prepared to pay the price.
(And before anyone else makes the comment - there are beggars in the street who are phony and do not need monetary help; but my original comment still stands. Why are they there, and are we willing to pay the price of helping them too?)
Brother Maurice,
The problem with us is that we find excuses to not allow the Holy Spirit to work by thinking that what we are saying does not make sense to the beggar. This is a kind of isolation the lesson is trying to teach us. To take that step and make a fool of ourselves with the kind of language we use. My pastor confessed at the pulpit last Sabbath that in his nine (9) years as a pastor he has not converted anyone and will never do until he stands at judgement. It is the work of the Holy Spirit. Brother, I urge you, the Holy Spirit is with you, take it to the street and talk gibberish. Make yourself foolish for the glory of God!
Peter, I understand what you are saying - we do make excuses not to do anything, but on the other hand we need to ensure that we do our part in communicating effectively. Remember the beggar that confronted the disciples at the temple gate. He asked for money and they healed him. What a surprise? He understood that message because it was in language that he understood.
Telling a person to repent and be born again may be the right message but it needs to be understood in "beggar language". And if you listen carefully that may include a listening ear, a warm blanket, a full belly, a haircut, a pair of warm socks, etc. And quite frankly, many of us are not even thinking of giving those messages. Perhaps we are unwilling to learn the language that the Holy Spirit wants us to learn.
Brothers and sisters, the Lord Jesus gave His 12 disciples and His disciples of today:
"Christ's method alone will give true success in reaching the people. The Saviour mingled with men as one who desired their good. He showed His sympathy for them, ministered to their needs, and won their confidence. Then He bade them, "'Follow Me.'" _ The Ministry of Healing, p.143. This was last week formula to take with you as you talk to the street people as well as our next door neighbor who needs the Lord Salvation.
Brother Maurice, I would like to thank you for being transparent about your pastor confession. It is the work of the Holy Spirit that brings people to our churches. The Lord called His disciples: "You are the salt of the earth;" and "You are the light of the world." (Matt. 5:13-14). Are we flavorful to the people around you or are you the light your light for others to see or do you cover your light in a basket that no one can see the light.
To the beggars on the streets find away to be friend to them. Offer the bottle of water and next time take them to McDonald for a meal. I know some of them just wants money give them a dollar.
"How do you, as a missionary, change my mind to want the things of God and to receive His Spirit and become His son instead of wanting money given to me? I believe this is the time we go on our knees to pray. Invite the Holy Spirit to empower you and to put the right words in your mouth. Pray and pray always!!!!!!! and surrender you will to the Holy Spirit to use you.
On the one hand the Holy Spirit can work through our imperfect efforts and sometimes a flawed attempt is better than no attempt. On the other hand, it is presumptuous to assume that the Holy Spirit will make up for our willful bigotry or stupidity. We do have an obligation, as far as we are able to reach people where they are at, in the context of their culture, using language they can understand, and most importantly getting to know them and gaining their trust. The saying is true, "people don't care how much you know until they know how much you care". "Christ's method alone . . ."
Satisfy the physical need and then the spiritual. They then will be more receptive to what you have to say through the guidance of the Holy Spirit. God bless.
Yes, Stephen, the way to the heart of a person is true love for him. Jesus had the Spirit of a true medical missionary in that He loved everyone in every transaction or conversation of life. We are called to the same ministry whether we are a doctor, teacher, mechanic, or entrepreneur. We have an obligation as a medical missionary to do good for others. God will give us the opportunity, the skill, and the love to reach everyone we meet with the gospel message built into our life if we invite God's Spirit of Love to motivate every thought and feeling we have.
Mmmmmh the "anyway" principle is one that we all need to learn. It is so easy to care for those that care for us but God requires of us to love and care even for those that hate us. This would be so easy if we considered the fact that our enemy is not the person but satan.
Loving the beggar is the easy part, speaking a beggar's language is relatively easy! Now tell me haow to love the guy/gal who just beat me and stole my $400 or who raped my daughter? Can we speak "my enemy's" language and desire his/her good???
Forgiveness is a tough call when it comes to living it. Some of us know that - from experience. And even then sometimes the forgiven don't accept it and don't understand the language either. Christ experienced that. "Father forgive them for they know not what they do!"
Sharon, take time and pray about that problem every day,then pray for that person.The holy spirit will tell you what to do.Don,t resist.God is the only one who can fix a problem like this.Many people were helped by God to forgive those who killed their family members in 1994 genocide in Rwanda and talked with them about God,s love.You cannot talk the language of the people who wronged you on your own but God who abide in you can do it because He desire their good.
Lord help me to develop the 'anyway ' principle in my life. Help me to love the unlovable just like Jesus did. Help me to see everyone as a soul brought with the precious blood of Jesus . Thank you for sending someone to point me to you . Amen
Back to Don's original question, the answer is: You don't! We are commanded to love each other, to serve each other, and to make disciples. We are never instructed to convince people or change their minds. Salvation is a miracle. Jesus said if He is lifted up, He will draw men to Him. That isn't part of our job description.
It would be very interesting to know if we are actually going out there and making a difference, rather than giving excuses after excuses. Talk is cheap. The challenge is for us to get our into the community.
Peter, if you look at my comments over the last couple of weeks I have been asking readers to share practical ideas of how they get out into the community. I have given a couple of examples from my own experience in the hope that others too would share with us how they mingle. It concerns me greatly that we get a lot of quotes from the Bible or Ellen White and cliche statements about praying and following the Holy Spirit. But very little about how we can mingle. (And I cannot write more this morning because I am leading someone on a bird watching expedition in a few minutes time, looking for a Spotted Quail-thrush. This is what I do to mingle.)
Maurice, I just try to help people in pain naturally. I do it in love. The Lord supports my family through this activity. So I have plenty of time to do it. This is the way my path crossed with most of the people I rub shoulders with.
I like to think of it as letting God be my employer. Love is the motivation of my practice. Most doctors don't practice the way I do but I enjoy a lot.
Blessings Don. Thank you for setting an example. May your tribe increase.
We like to "mingle" with our neighbours over a cuppa or a meal, simply making ourselves available; cooking for them when they are sick, sharing our garden produce up and down the street; mowing their lawns and caring for their gardens when they are away; volunteering for local services (meals on wheels, etc); making friends wherever and whenever and having a positive influence. We simply love people and meet them where they are - they sooner or later get to know we are Adventists and we hope that is a positive.
Jesus lived contrary to the complacent, apathetic, passive, indifferent, cynical attitude of the masses. Christian love counters the MYOB (mind your own business), don't get involved approach of many. The challenge is to be wise, make effective use of time and not turn into a busybody pest.
As I look at the anyway principle it has to do with the mind of Christ in us, our carnal nature is screaming ,"no way" but our spiritual is saying " in spite of' 'because of the character of God in me I will do it because of genuine love, this will break down all sorts of discrimination, be it religious, health,race etc. Jesus did good for all including those who wanted to put him to death, Look at many prominent bible characters, WHO TRESSPASSED SERIOUSLY AGAINST GOD, he still worked with them and give them high position in spite of their actions, because he knew their heart. In spite of what people may have done to us, their condition, status ,it is not what matters to us, but what matters to God.
I nearly always use Bible references. However I ran across quotes from Ministry of Healing, pages143,144.145 and 147. Just a few lines here. "There is a need for coming close to the people by personal effort . If less time were given sermonizing and more time spent in personal ministry greater results would be seen . The poor are to be relieved, the sick cared for, the sorrowing and the bereaved comforted, the ignorant instructed, the inexperienced counseled. We are to weep with those that weep and rejoice with those that rejoice"..... and much more.--- I have heard similar stories much the same as you. People that show up at our church on Sabbath when it is convenient so they can be fed and money extracted when possible. We don't always make the right call. Especially when we are reluctant to be taken advantage of. We have also provided motel rooms occasionally. But as I said, when and where is the right time? The right time is when we prayerfully seek answers.
Any time we r faced with helping and interacting with others that may b strangers r beggars r even enemies, l feel tht we must b walking in the Holy Spirit, bc of my own self I cn do nothing. It is God working n me 2 do His will & good pleasure. God hasn't given us the spirit of fear, but love & sound mind. Learn 2 led by the Spirit before u act unwisely.