"He hath shown thee, O man what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God" - Micah 6:8.When I look at the face of people who end up on the street, many of them wear the hardness of their lives on their faces. They so desperately need to hear that God loves them so much. This is the message that needs to be shared on the street. But so many times that message gets lost in the controversies and doctrines and theology that we so bitterly fight about. But these things bring nothing to the people who are the most needy. People need to know that "for God so loved that He sent His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him has everlasting life.
All to often people will come and work with our street ministry and they cannot minister very well out there. They loose credibility, they want to push their way, their theology, their understanding of what they think that God has taught them. The simple Gospel of Christ gets lost in the controversies.
The people who want to demand "sound doctrine" which to them is only what they believe, will not last, they soon quit and do something else. They will never be effective ministering on the street.
There is only one issue for us on the street. It is not abortion, it is not homosexuality, it is not Saturday worship versus Sunday Worship. It is not Charismatic versus non Charismatic, it is not Catholic or Protestant, Liberal or conservative. The issue is whether people are saved by grace or not. This is all that is important..
Our message is very simple. God loves them just the way they are. God has wonderful plans for them, he wants them to follow Him, to be part of His Kingdom. He wants them to live a simple life of simplicity and love, to do justice, Love Mercy and walk humbly with their God.. Can we dare to believe that the Holy Spirit will do His work in their lives and that maybe, just perhaps it may not look like yours?
I have been doing this long enough to see how much damage all of this doctrinal arguments about things not important has done. Christianity has lost it's credibility, and we need to get it back. We need to get back to the simple Gospel, the simple faith that God loves us and has a wonderful plan for our lives. All we have to do is believe, repent and let go of our life and go and walk with God, doing what is just, and showing mercy and living a simple humble life of love for God and man.
4 comments:
great piece, while reading it I was thinking of debates I've heard as people have questioned and argued about the Theology of Oswald Chambers. Some argue that he is reformed others that he isn't and back and forth it goes. Here is a quote from Chambers that states exactly what you are sharing here.
" Theology is second, not first; in its place it is the handmaid of religion, but it becomes a tyrant if put in the first place. The great doctrines of predestination and election are secondary matters; they are attempts at definition, but if we take sides with a theological method we will damn those who differ from us without a minute's hesitation. Is there any form of belief which has taken the place of God with me? We only believe what we conceive of God, and when things happen contrary to that line, we deny the experience and remain true to our theological method."
Like Chambers we need to point the lost toward Christ first. Discussions about theology can be kept for another day.
Dave, thanks for the word. I hope you find more Kingdom workers. So much separates people like me from street work. "I don't know and I don't care" may be at the bottom of it, I must say. For me it's not theology, just a general fleshiness and (maybe) being called to other work. Is that legitimate or just what I tell myself. Not sure. Anyway - keep up the great work, brother.
Frank, the quote from Chambers is really good, I pray more people "get it".
Guy, not everyone is called to work on the street, we all have our own gifts and calling. No one can judge another for what they do with their walk with God. To judge that is arrogant.
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