That was the theme of the Intervarsity Cornerstone Conference I attended last weekend. I was blown away by the number of students there, living their lives for Jesus, completely willing to give up their weekend to serve, to be challenged, and to sleep on the floor of a church for two nights. We stayed at Florida Street Baptist Church in Glenwood, and a large part of Saturday was spent serving the community at different organizations. We had a speaker from Richmond come and share with us how our lives--our time, money, ideals, relationships--can be transformed by God's grace in order to transform the lives of others. He talked of giving away what you have because it all belongs to God. This really challenged us and made us uncomfortable. Giving more than 10 percent of my income? Really, God, are you kidding me? Moving to the inner city? Volunteering with a homeless shelter and really getting to know people there? Please, anything but that. These were the thoughts that I think many of us had as we processed God's heart for the often-neglected poor in our society, and our role in stepping out of our comfort zones to act in the name of Jesus.
I know that the Lord doesn't call everyone to the inner city; who then would minister to people in the suburbs? I know he doesn't expect us to give all of our time to shelters and feeding the hungry; who then would care for the people of the church, and serve in all of its other ministries? But I do think that God is calling us to do something to serve the needy. And not just serve them, but befriend them. I think that's part of what Jesus meant in his command to love your neighbor. (James 2:2-8) I'm praying that God would open my heart and eyes to those existing and perspective relationships in my neighborhood. I'm scared to be uncomfortable. In fact, every bit of my flesh fights discomfort. But even scarier to me is to neglect God's calling to love the least of these.
Lord, help me to die to my stubborn self, to give you control of my time, finances, and relationships so that my heart may be transformed to be more like yours.
