Serving One Another in Love

We all know Christianity means following Christ, i.e. living our lives patterned after the way he lived here on earth and doing the things he taught. One of the biggest things I've noticed about Christ's life is his ministry. When I say ministry, I'm not referring to the noun the way we all use it these days, rather, I refer to it as a verb.

According to www.dictionary.com Ministry is: a) the profession or duties of a minister of religion and b) the performance of these duties. Hmm... interesting. Does it mean then that as ministers we are required to do something?


You see, I say this because we live in an age where people are obsessed with titles and positions. We call ourselves ministers because we hold certain positions within our local church assembly, but are we really doing ministry?

When Christ walked on planet earth, he healed the sick, the blind, the broken and fed the hungry, both spirituality and physically. He didn't look down on sinners, nor did he cast them aside. He didn't regard the church officials as higher than the regular folk on the street. Rather, he spent more time working with these people, eating in their homes, allowing them to wash his feet and teaching them the errors of their ways in love; showing them that there was a better way to live.

So why then, did our ministry evolve to singing in church to church-folk who already know Jesus and treating others who don't or who are struggling as outcasts? Why do we create tiny cliques of other ministers as "sophisticated" as ourselves to associate with and ignore the plight of everyone else?

See, now I have to be careful with today's posts because I can certainly see a lot of my friends and associates getting mad at me for it because a lot of us fit into these descriptions. However, we must be aware of our mistakes as Christians and this is one of them.

Ministry means helping our fellow man. It means serving those entrusted to our care. It means understanding their plight. It means not being too "stoosh"* to reach down to them in their situations and lend a helping hand. It means leaving the comfort of our church pews sometimes and going next-door to the old lady's house and helping her get rid of the weeds that have over-run her yard. It means, befriending that girl who was just raped and walking her through her recovery process- it does not mean telling her that everything will be alright and then moving on.

Ministry does not mean an exquisitely cut suit with salon-perfect hair and nails and the perfect shoes. We are not called to "look the part" of ministry, we are called to live it. Let's stop being oblivious to the hurt of people around us. There are people in our everyday lives who are in desperate need of help but are afraid to ask us because they fear that we will look down on them. They are afraid that we will offer them only a few church cliches in our best "ministry voice" and then leave them to the wolves to fend for themselves.

Christians, fellow brothers and sisters, our Christianity must be tangible and identifiable. The people we are called to serve need to know that we are accessible and not judgmental or else they will never come to us for their help that they need. If that is the case, then our mission will never be accomplished and Christ's love will never be shown as it should. I'm sure we all agree that we are God's hands here on earth. He does things in the lives of people but it is through other people. If we are too distracted by our church services and our new "ministry suits" then we won't see those who are hurting and who need help.

Let us stop acting the part of ministry and let us learn to live it.

* Stoosh is a term used in the Caribbean to refer to those who are "fresh" or look down on others whom they don't consider to be part of their clique, clan or class. 

Devotions like this one and others can be found in the Soul Food Series in Kindle or paperback format. 

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People-Pleasing

Obviously, I’m not trying to win the approval of people, but of God. If pleasing people were my goal, I would not be Christ’s servant. Galations 1:10

It's easy to get caught up trying to make people like you or even approve of you.  The world has us constantly seeking attention, affection and approval.  

Human beings are strange characters.  They don't like you for one thing, but if you change it and do want they want, they probably still won't like you anyway. 

Everyday in the media we see severe cases of people-pleasing.  Singers who want to be famous get on stage wearing next to nothing and the crowds go wild, soaking it in and buying out their records.  People seem to want to only listen to music made by "bad boys" or "bad girls" yet these same singers get seriously crucified in the media when their marriages only last a few days or they are caught with drugs.   Most of them can't cope with their people-pleasing so it affects their lives. 

People-pleasing is very dangerous for Christians and non-Christians alike. Even in our church lives we sometimes get caught up with putting on a show.  Sometimes we raise our hands just because it is the thing to do,  not because we want to surrender totally to God. We join certain committees just because everybody else thinks that you'll be good at it even though you don't like doing that particular thing. We even find ourselves marrying a particular person because everybody thinks that "you two look great together!". 

 Unfortunately for us,  people-pleasing has the undesired effect of not pleasing God.  If we spend the rest of our lives looking for approval from man, we will probably never accomplish what God has in store for us.  If we're busy worrying about what men will think of us,  then we'll be too distracted to hear what God wants from us. 

Trying to please people is like trying to fill a bucket with holes,  it will never happen. Man's perception of what is good changes daily. Somewhere on the planet on any given day and at any given point in time, there will be someone who does not like what you're doing or who simply doesn't like YOU. 

Pleasing God is so much easier and has many more benefits. First of all, God will always love you, no matter what, even when you make a mistake. Secondly, His plans for you have already been set. They won't change, because He never changes, therefore you won't be chasing a moving target. Thirdly, God will help you get to where He wants you to go. God guides us through every step in our process and is there to ensure that we don't hurt ourselves when we fall. 

So let us go through today remembering that our job is not to please every one around us or even to gain the approval of man. Let us remember that our focus should be on God's plans for our lives and what He wants us to do with it. Remember also, that what God wants from us is true worship i.e. a lifestyle that follows his commands. We can't be true worshippers if our lifestyles are following the commands of the person sitting next to us in church. 

Have a blessed day!

Devotions like this one and others can be found in the Soul Food Series in Kindle or paperback format. 

To grab a copy, click one of the images below. 

Doing what you Believe

“Not everyone who calls out to me, ‘Lord! Lord!’ will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Only those who actually do the will of my Father in heaven will enter. Matthew 7:21

It's easy to talk Christianity. Throw in a few catch phrases, quote a few scripture verses, talk about an experience from ten years ago and you'll sound like you've got it right. It's a completely different thing to live the life of a Christian though. 

Throughout the New Testament we are reminded that it's our actions and the state of the heart that determines the state of a man, not what we say. You see, what we do cannot be separate from what we believe. If we say we believe something then our actions should follow in line with what we believe. I've said this before and I'll say it again, the world shuns Christianity simply because of the Christians. We preach one thing but live completely contrary to what we say. People can't see our God portrayed in us, nor can they see the changes in our lives that we claim He can make in theirs. They don't see it not because our God can't do it, but because we refuse to let Him. God won't do anything in us we don't allow or we don't ask for. So whilst He's waiting for permission to move in our lives, those on the outside looking in are wondering what the big commotion is all about. They see no change. 

Change always starts with one person taking stock of what needs to change and making it happen. If if person works on themselves soon the whole will be changed. Let today be the day we decide to stop talking church and start living like Christ. Not only should we strive to be like Him but we should also allow Him the time and free reign to work on us. Allow his will to be done in our lives and follow his directions as He gives it. 

Today, let us not only talk Christianity but let us also live it.

Devotions like this one and others can be found in a handy collection in Kindle or paperback format. 

To grab your copy, click here. 

Joana James - Author of From Redemption to Maturity, Trusting God with your Future,   Nightmare at Emerald High & Alana and Alyssa's Secret & Finding Romeo 

Open window Christianity

Daniel 6:10 NLT

But when Daniel learned that the law had been signed, he went home and knelt down as usual in his upstairs room, with its windows open toward Jerusalem. He prayed three times a day, just as he had always done, giving thanks to his God.

The first sentence of this scripture shocks me a little. Daniel heard about the new law but went home to pray with his window open. Isn't that something? I know what I would do after hearing about a law like that. I'd go home to pray but I would definitely keep my windows closed.

Daniel shows the kind of bravery that a lot of us (including me) don't have, Not only was he not ashamed of his Christianity, he was ready to accept the consequences of this choice. Most of us have the freedom to worship whomever or whatever we want in our countries, yet not many of us are willing to stand up boldly and declare that we are Christians. We attend church regular and pray regular within closed doors but when we are required to speak out again immorality we shy away. Heated discussions about major social issues that are changing our landscapes happen around us all the time and we are afraid to take the Christian stance for fear of ostracism. 

Daniel didn't care about being ostracised. As a matter of fact, his punishment was not ostracism, but rather death. At the time he made the decision to pray, there is no indication that God gave him the assurance that he's survive the plan the enemy had for him, but he did it anyway. 

My encouragement to you today is to live out your Christianity with the windows open. Live life outside of church the same way you do in church. Be bold about your faith, let the devil know that even when threatened, you are proud to be a Christian.

Devotions like this one and others can be found in a handy collection in Kindle or paperback format. 

To grab your copy, click here. 

Joana James - Author of From Redemption to Maturity, Trusting God with your Future,   Nightmare at Emerald High & Alana and Alyssa's Secret & Finding Romeo