Years ago, on a night plagued with insomnia, I watched a late-night cable television show with what was then a novel “reality” themed concept. A young man with a British accent traveled the States and spent time with groups or individuals that fell outside the normal bounds of society. This included everything from gun-toting separatists to good ol’ boys who built and drove demolition derby cars.
One night, he chose to spend time with evangelical Christians. The scene that remains in my memory went something like this: Our young British hero traveled the streets of a large city with a group whose stated goal was to spread the word of Christ. The group’s strategy for that night was to walk up and down the sidewalk in some seedy areas and play guitars, tambourines and other instruments while singing Praise songs. They would then yell to folks as they passed that God loved them and to repent.
At one point, they came across a gathering of teenage runaways living on the street. One girl was pregnant. After singing her a special song, a member of the evangelical group asked the young girl if she had visited the doctor. She replied that she had once, but didn’t know if she’d go again. The group then encouraged her to see a doctor and to take care of her baby. After this particularly sage advice, they moved on down the street singing loudly.
What an opportunity to miss! Rather than providing shelter, clothing, medical care or food to the young soon-to-be mother; they sang her a song and walked away. For those watching that were not familiar with Christianity, what a damaging scene. The evangelicals possessed faith but demonstrated no works. Theirs was a hollow gesture. Had they provided real, substantive aid to the young girl, they would have profoundly impacted her life and touched the hearts of those watching on TV. The impression on non-believers would have been a strong one.
What opportunities to live out Christ’s message do we miss in our area? What keeps our congregation from having empty faith? Asbury’s ministry teams carry out many projects that demonstrate our faith to those outside of the church. These ministry teams carry out the mission of our faith. Imagine how much more could be done if each of us committed to helping a ministry team in some way.
Two of the servants in Jesus’ parable of the talents in Matthew 25 multiply their master’s wealth and hear, “Well done, good and faithful servant!” Each of us has been blessed with gifts from God. He can make use of us in ways that we do not realize, but it cannot happen unless we give back from those blessings. Our time, our talents and our resources all come from God. If we use the blessings we’ve been given to minister to others, then we multiply His blessings. When the congregation is used to multiply the blessings God has given each of us, Asbury UMC becomes a “good and faithful servant.”
Don Bowers, Stewardship Chair
