Again...have been so deeply impressed by the simple, yet utterly profound insight of Selwyn Hughes on the whole theme of caring and how the church should care that I really must write his thoughts down before I forget in time to come....
In the EDWJ issue of Jan/Feb 2009:
Five ingredients that go into making a community of God's people a model of His love and care:
1) A caring church is excited about the challenge of bringing it's member into maturity
- problems among Christians are God's way of highlighting the need for maturity
- difficulties in a local church should be seen not as an obstacle but as an opportunity
- A problem, after all, is only 'a solution in disguise'
- Is your local church or fellowship plagued by problems?
- Perhaps you need this word today to remind you that there is no growth without pain
- When we take personal responsibility for the upholding of Christ and the development of fellow Christians in our local congregation, we fulfil our responsibility as part of the Body of Christ, our Saviour
2) A caring church is a church whose leaders demonstrate care and concern for each other, thus setting a good example to the flock
- It is the responsibility of leaders in any church to maintain a high standard of holiness for no church can rise higher than its leadership in the quality of its fellowship and caring
- Care is demonstrated by church members spending time together, not just in business meetings but also in relationship-building
3) In a caring church people can share their deep feelings and hurts without fear of rejection
- How difficult this truth can be in real life!!
- In Selwyn Hughes words - " Well, if you have a mist in the pulpit, you are certain to get a fog in the pew! Such preaching have turned a lot of christians into phoneys,"
- If we care for people, we will give them the freedom to tell us how they feel, with no fear of being rejected
4) A caring church is a church with a system of loving support
- Love isn't about sentiment or feeling - its about giving real help to real people
- Problems are anticipated, strategies planned and lasting solutions developed
5) A caring church is a church whose members are willing to lay down their lives for others
- Direct quote from that morning's devotion:
In all my travels I have come across only one church where a commitment is made by every member to place the interests of the other members before their own.I found this church in Pusan, Korea. The atmosphere in that church was the most wonderful experience in over 40 years of ministry. The minister told me that whenever someone joins this church, either through conversion or moving into the community from elsewhere, all the other members gather round the new member and recite together these words:
'We covenant to love you with the love of the Lord Jesus Christ - the love that puts your interests as a priority. Nothing you do will stop us loving you. If your actions dishonour Christ, we will tell you so, but in a spirit of love. We will pray for you daily by name. Anything we have is at your disposal. We will honestly tell you how we feel about the level of your spiritual maturity from time to time. If this means pain for each of us, we will trust our relationship enough to take that risk, realising that in 'speaking the truth in love we grow up in every way into Christ who is the head'. We are committed to you because of what od has designed us to be be in His loving creation.'
- Wow!!! what a commitment!!
