Are you doing what you can do?

We have become so addicted to comfort, and developed such a “hoarder” mentality, that even within the church we have fostered a habit of breaking down the meeting of needs to something that doesn’t “pinch” or cost us.

The result is that many of us are NOT doing all that we could do in service to God and for His kingdom.

The great preacher, Charles Spurgeon, was once invited by a wealthy man to come down and preach in a country church in order to help them raise funds to pay a debt. The man told Spurgeon he was free to use his country house, his town house, or his seaside home. Spurgeon wrote back and declined coming, stating, “Sell one of your homes and pay the debt yourself.”

Most of us have never given in service to God and His kingdom in such a way that it “hurt,” much less that we even really felt a real “cost.” And certainly, most of us have never truly sacrificed anything for the sake of our Creator and His purposes.

In Spurgeon’s story, it wouldn’t even have been a sacrifice for the wealthy man to sell a home and pay the debt himself. And for MANY of us, we could eliminate the needs of someone without it becoming a sacrifice if only we dug a little deeper.

Sometimes the needs of others that we should try to help meet are beyond our personal capacity to pay, but that’s when we rally God’s children to pool together until the need can be eliminated. That is how the first Christians responded to needs among them …

“All the believers were united in heart and mind. And they felt that what they owned was not their own, so they shared everything they had. The apostles testified powerfully to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and God’s great blessing was upon them all. There were no needy people among them, because those who owned land or houses would sell them and bring the money to the apostles to give to those in need,” Acts 4:32-35.

Unfortunately, we have so infused into our thinking various political views that directly counter scripture, arguing that we shouldn’t pay the debt of another person. We’ve allowed our choice of political philosophy to keep us from loving, serving, and caring for others the way the Bible illustrates to us that we should.

What’s more important to you: your political views or loving like Jesus does and the early church did?

Are you really doing for God and His kingdom all that you’re capable of doing?

Scotty