Most of us analyse problems and
situations and look for logical or sensible solutions. We often focus on the
practical rather than the spiritual. It is human nature. It is also the natural
tendency of Christians to think practically in the first instance because we
are surrounded by earthly concerns. But are we really helping people?
When we see a homeless person,
our inclination is to want to feed and clothe the person and ultimately to see
them finding housing. When someone has died, we offer the grieving relatives
counsel and encouragement and tell them that time is a great healer and it will
get easier. When dealing with someone with addictions we offer them twelve step
programmes or rehab. When someone is arrested, or goes to jail, we send them
material things, visit them in prison and try to lift their spirits encouraging
them to focus on their release date. When someone is the victim of a crime we
try to replace what was lost materially or pay their medical bills if they were
assaulted. When a person loses their business, or has a financial crisis we
might directly offer them money or a loan. When someone goes missing we help
with the search and spread the word on social media. When someone is lonely we
spend time with them or invite them round to our houses. When a person is being
persecuted in another country we help them leave as a refugee. When someone is
abused we offer counselling. The list is endless…
I have written in the past that help without hope is the ultimate tragedy. From a slightly different angle, I wanted
to focus on whether we, as Christians, really believe that the Gospel is the
answer to every human problem that we face. We often say it and offer to pray
for people, but has it become something of a cliché? We give a lot more
consideration to practical help, and the spiritual can be side-lined. What does
a person in crisis really need? Do we believe that there is power to solve
every earthly problem in the name of Jesus? What will the solutions look like?
What happens when God’s ways are not ours?
Sometimes, when reading the news,
which I do every day, I come across an article that moves me more than usual.
It might stay in my mind and I might think about the person’s situation and
want to help them. My mind immediately turns to finances or material help.
Clearly, many people, believers
and non-believers alike, are influenced in this way. Just look at the success
of crowd funding or the donations that pour in for people whose plights are
highlighted in the media or whose social media posts go viral. With the
seemingly unstoppable march of technology it is now easy to connect with people
whose stories we read from all over the world. We all want to help and money or
material provision is one way to do that. We provide funds to help the person overcome
their earthly trial and it might help, at least temporarily.
Then there are situations where
time is needed—we might be inclined to visit someone or spend hours listening
to their problems. Again, this may be helpful, for a time.
The Bible encourages us to be
generous with our money and resources, to visit those in prison and to look
after widows and orphans. This can easily be extended to all those in crisis or
facing trials, as the second greatest commandment is to love our neighbour as
we love ourselves. So, practical help can be a biblical response.
However, the important aspect is
where our focus is as we do these things. As Christians, we need to train
ourselves to think firstly in terms of eternal matters rather than earthly
concerns whatever they may be. Jesus is our example, he addressed the spiritual
concerns of the paralysed man by forgiving his sin prior to healing him (Luke 5
vs 17-26.) From an earthly perspective, to onlookers, it would have appeared
that the only need of the man was to be healed physically, but his burden of
sin and eternal destiny was of far greater importance to Jesus. It should also
be our priority as we seek to help others.
The Bible tells us that we will
all face trials of many kinds in our lifetime. Sometimes it takes a crisis to
make a person think seriously about God. Immediately focusing on practical
solutions may not be what they need from a spiritual perspective. God may be
working in their life in another way. We need to be careful not to obscure
their view of God or pathway to Him with our earthly wisdom.
Instead, we can offer hope to
someone struggling through a trial by offering to pray for them not as a cliché,
but in the sincere belief that it will actually help. We can contact a stranger
via social media to share the Gospel with them in their time of need or
desperation. We can visit, call or write to someone to share the hope we have found in Jesus. Whose
responsibility is it to share with the individuals that we read or hear about
in the news or on social media? Who will share real hope with that neighbour or
friend as the large financial donation temporarily relieves the crisis? Maybe
God is prompting you to be that person.
We might feel awkward and fear
rejection if we try to offer a person hope when others are providing seemingly greater
earthly gifts. We might worry that the person may see our offering as worthless
in comparison—that they might think we offer words to avoid financial sacrifice
ourselves. Of course, we can offer practical help as well, but which should be
the priority and focus?
Firstly, we should remember that
any rejection of the Gospel message is actually a rejection of God rather than
a personal one. Secondly, you might be surprised how willing a person is to
hear the message of hope if your offering is covered with prayer and if God chooses
to open their eyes. I recently received the following from one such stranger; “Thankyou
for your message. It means a lot.” I
contacted the person on social media, having debated whether or not to do so. I
felt awkward and feared a hostile response or a “Who are you to get involved in
my business?” or even the question that every Christian fears "If God loves me then why has this happened to me?" The enemy whispered that someone else should share with them, I didn't need to do it, but
the fact is that God had prompted me. Don’t ignore those inner promptings of
the Holy Spirit—I am not always faithful in responding but am learning.
The key here is whether we
actually believe the things that we say we do. In my recent post about whether Christians really believe in Hell, I observed that if we did, we would do
everything in our power to stop people ending up there, regardless the earthly consequence
to ourselves.
Similarly, if we really believe
that forgiveness of sin through Jesus, leading to eternal life in Heaven is the
answer to every earthly problem, then wouldn’t we offer that first to those
facing trials. If we really believe that
the Gospel is the answer and provides the hope the person needs at that time,
wouldn’t we risk it anyway, for their sake? We worry about political
correctness and potentially offending someone, but if the Gospel is the truth
then shouldn't a person’s eternal welfare be the priority.
What happens when God’s solutions
are not our solutions? We need to be careful about offering people the “God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life” version of the Gospel. We
shouldn’t tell a person that God will remove them from their earthly trials or
make everything better. God may require the suffering to continue for reasons
we cannot fathom, but He promises to be with them in the middle of the struggle. We can pray that the suffering would end, but
we need to ensure we are offering hope for life beyond this one rather than
focusing on the here and now.
The Gospel is the answer to every
problem because it sustains us in our earthly trials and offers hope for a
future life in heaven. Let’s ensure we keep our focus and communicate this to
others as we also help them practically.
“If I firmly believed, as millions say they do, that the knowledge of a
practice of religion in this life influences destiny in another, then religion
would mean to me everything. I would cast away earthly enjoyments as dross,
earthly thoughts and feelings as vanity. Religion would be my first waking
thought and my last image before sleep sank me into unconsciousness. I should
labor in its cause alone. I would take thought for the marrow of eternity
alone. I would esteem one soul gained for heaven worth a life of suffering.
Earthly consequences would never stay in my head or seal my lips. Earth, its
joys and its griefs, would occupy no moment of my thoughts. I would strive to
look upon eternity alone, and on the immortal souls around me, soon to be
everlastingly happy or everlastingly miserable. I would go forth to the world
and preach to it in season and out of season. and my text would be, "What
shall it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses his own soul”
Anonymous atheist
