FROM THE DESK OF PASTOR WILL: "Measuring the Heartbeat of the Church"

[Rev. William Griffith]

I am always amazed when I see the socio-political efforts to eradicate homelessness or to curb poverty. I am always disgusted when I see politicians deliver their stump speeches, using the poor to further their own agendas of power, greed and manipulation. While there are things we can and must do to reduce the rate and number of people who fall into poverty, we must also recognize that the poor, the homeless, the victims of social injustice will always be with us. WHY? What purpose do people in poverty serve? The self-righteous among us tend to judge the poor (conservatives horribly bad on this point) as being lazy. Many of the homeless men and women Alysyn and I have met were and are anything but lazy. They were not lazy when defending their country in the uniform of the United States Armed Forces. They weren't lazy when they were laid-off from their jobs after twenty years because their corporations downsized and they were considered non-essential. They weren't lazy when they lost their jobs on the assembly line to a robot who works cheaper and eats nothing. They weren't lazy when Congress said the national sequester would be tough for many Americans,  while voting themselves a pay increase... Republicans and Democrats alike. Those who are mentally ill or suffer from substance abuse are usually discarded, though many of them suffer from a trauma while serving in the Armed Services or some other personal experience that furthered their addiction.

So what use are the poor?

For the believer and follower of Jesus Christ, the poor are on a mission from God whether we choose to acknowledge it or not. Jesus said the poor would always be with us, and He gave us clear and profound instruction on how we are to treat them. The homeless, the addict, the prostitute...all deserving of love and dignity. And He further told us that when we reach for those in need we are reaching for Him. There is no debate, political, cultural or religious that can take a single word away from what the Lord commanded of His followers.

God has a special mission for the poor and the socially rejected. They have one of the most important missions assigned by God, for they are among us and with us and beside us to measure and test the heartbeat of the Church of Jesus Christ. Are we following Jesus fully? Are we ignoring these people because they are offensive and it's just easier to imagine they don't exist than to recognize the living Christ in them?

When we feed the poor or clothe them; when we nurse them or visit them in prison. When we offer love and compassion through Jesus Christ to the socially rejected...we are reaching for the very hand of Christ.

If we lack humility before God and each other, it is certain that we lack love and compassion for the poor. Only by following the words of Christ fully can we know Him. Only by reaching for those rejected by church and state alike can Christ be seen and felt. Our job is not to eradicate poverty or campaign for the politician who has the best agenda to solve the problems of the poor. our job as followers of Jesus Christ is to meet their needs according to what God has given us and to do so in faith. Faith without works is dead, being alone, the Books of James tells us in the scripture.

If the heartbeat of the Body of Christ seems weak, then all we need to do is look at the priorities of the body to which we belong. Does the church you attend put more emphasis on new carpeting or a stained glass window than it does how to reach out to meet the needs of the poor? Lip service in the service of Christ doesn't work. It is all for nothing. We would do well to follow the words of Mother Teresa when she said:

"Enough words...Let them see what we do".

~Pastor Will Griffith

  Evangel Pacific Ministries