Operation Inasmuch

Operation Inasmuch is a worldwide ministry that comes alongside churches and pastors to equip and motivate them to obey the biblical mandate to minister to the “least of these.” Using the Inasmuch model of compassion ministry, we empower believers to live out their calling to serve others and experience the joy that comes from serving. We encourage pastors who want to see their church connected in their community but don’t have the time or training to do it on their own. We show believers how they can create opportunities to share the gospel by doing the gospel.

[operationinasmuch]

5 Traits of a True Servant

Not everyone who serves is a servant. Not everyone who does something for someone else is serving. If you Google “serving,” you will see plenty of articles about military service. I was in the Army, but I do not think of that time as serving. If I had been in combat, I might feel differently, but I had a desk job the entire time. To this day, when someone thanks me for my service in the military as often happens on Veterans Day or Memorial Day, I feel a little guilty because I didn’t do anything special.

When I think of serving, I think of helping people at the point of their need—the hungry, the lonely, the imprisoned, the oppressed, the homeless, the mentally ill, and so forth. I also think of serving as an attitude toward others that manifests itself in putting them before self, helping others in some way whether or not they ask for it or even realize it.

Anyone can serve others. It does not require any special skills or experiences, only the willingness to help others as you have the opportunity. However, there are observable traits in those who serve. I have had the opportunity to work with hundreds of churches in helping them mobilize their members in authentic service to their community. Here are the qualities of servants I have seen many times over.

1. HUMILITY

Serving begins with humility. Some might argue that it begins with an opportunity—encountering a person in need—but I believe without humility, you might not recognize the opportunity. At its base, serving is giving some of yourself to someone else, some of your time, some of your wisdom, some of your strength, some of your money. It is letting go of something in your possession for the benefit of others.

Humility is not an acquired skill. It is not something that can be taught as much as it can be caught. Humility is the willingness to play “second fiddle.” The famous maestro Leonard Bernstein was once asked which instrument in an orchestra is the most difficult to play. He answered:  “Second fiddle.”  Then he added: “Yet, if we have no second fiddle, we have no harmony.”

Humility is not . . . thinking less of yourself; it is thinking of yourself less.

Humility is not . . . a sign of weakness.

Humility is not . . . sitting on the sidelines.

Humility is . . . the courage to be honest with yourself and those around you.

Humility is . . . being teachable.

Humility is . . . allowing yourself to be vulnerable.

2. SEEING NEEDS

I have often said one of the best things the Inasmuch ministry does is expose people who are reluctant to serve to some of the needs in their community. A true servant is a person who sees, I mean truly sees the needs of others. Whether it is being observant or compassionate or simply open to being touched by another’s need that causes a person to see others in need, I can’t say. And, frankly, it doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter what causes a person to see another’s need as long as he sees it.

We don’t see needs because we don’t travel in places where needs are more conspicuous. Our traffic patterns do not take us into those places, but the people who live there are our neighbors, and we need to see their needs. A second problem with seeing needs is we don’t want to see them. How many times have you grimaced and looked away when a commercial for World Vision shows pictures of starving children on your television? Pretty much all of us have looked away when we drive up to an intersection and there is a ragged, dirty person there holding a sign that says, “Anything will help.” A true servant’s eyes are wide open to the needs around her.

3. COMPASSION

Compassion is being moved by another’s pain or need. It is grounded in empathy or the ability to put oneself into another’s situation as if it were our own. Empathy is not the same as sympathy, nor is compassion the same. Sympathy is pity, maybe heartfelt regret for another’s needs but it doesn’t lead to action. Henry Ford said: “Never look down on anybody unless you’re helping him up.”

The role model for compassion is the Good Samaritan. In Jesus’ telling of the story, he says when the Samaritan saw the robbery victim, “he had compassion on him.”  And he proceeded to bind up the man’s wounds and carry him to a safe place where he could recover. The point is clear:

Compassion Leads to Serving.

4. COURAGE

Serving others will inevitably lead to situations that move you out of your comfort zone. The fact is when you give yourself in response to another’s need, you become vulnerable to their pain and you may well feel inadequate and/or out of control. It is rare that serving is dangerous, but it can happen.

A true servant is one who pushes past fear to serve whether that fear is from real or perceived danger or merely discomfort from unfamiliar circumstances. Fear can paralyze us. It can trump feelings of compassion if it is strong enough. It can cause us to ignore what we can plainly see as needs of another person out of a sense of self-protection. Self-protection is natural and in most cases works to our benefit, but there are times when we can, if we choose, set it aside for something we believe is more important. A true servant is able to do that.

5. SENSE OF RESPONSIBILITY

Over years of watching people serve others, I have seen that they usually feel responsible, not for the pain or suffering of another, but responsible to do something to meet the need or alleviate the suffering. A sense of responsibility can come from two sources. One is a strong sense of community that you are part of a larger community and bear some responsibility to make it a better place. So, you pay your taxes, obey the laws, refuse to litter, and do what you can to serve the less fortunate. Serving is simply one way of being a good citizen. For us who are followers of Jesus, being responsible is a matter of obedience to God. Even a cursory reading of the Bible, especially the Gospels that tell of the life and ministry of Jesus, shows that God has a special place in his heart for the poor and oppressed. So, serving becomes a matter of acting on his behalf, or better yet, allowing yourself to be an instrument of healing in his hands.

“Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant… Just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve.” Matthew 20:26,28 NIV

STORY OF SERVING

Somewhere in the world, in the midst of street fighting as part of a larger war, a news reporter covering the war saw a child wander into the line of fire and was shot. Forgetting his job, he risked his own life to run to the child, scoop him up and run to safety. He saw quickly that the child’s wound was serious and required immediate attention. He carried the child around the corner, flagged down a cab driver, jumped into the back seat and said: “Hospital! Please hurry!” As the cab sped toward the closest hospital, the reporter kept saying to the driver, “Faster! My child is dying!” Soon they pulled up to the ER and the reporter jumped out of the cab and passed off the child to the waiting arms of a nurse. The cab driver got out his cab, too, wanting to be sure they had gotten there in time.

After he composed himself, the reporter asked the cabbie to take him back to the neighborhood where the fighting took place. He said: “I have to go tell his parent what has happened.”  Perplexed, the cabbie said: “But you said, ‘My child is dying!’” And the reporter said: “They’re all our children.”

FOR PASTORS

This list of traits is not meant to be a test or checklist a person has to complete before serving. Rather, it is hoped they give insight to why some serve, and some do not. A lesson or sermon on these traits might take the approach of answering the question: Do you have what it takes to serve people in need?

[operationinasmuch]

Time to Push the RESET Button

Remember the days when airplanes had to circle the airport for a while prior to landing? That image is analogous to how most of us have been feeling during COVID—living life in a holding pattern until it’s safe to resume “normal” activities. That is certainly true for churches for whom week-to-week activities still do not look anything like they did at the beginning of 2020.

But change is in the air. As people are vaccinated by the tens of thousands daily, and more restaurants open their dining rooms and more schools hold in-person classes, there is a growing anticipation that the end of the pandemic is closer. We can feel it in the air and hear it in conversations.

WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING FORWARD TO?

A recent IPSOS poll found that most Americans are looking forward to not thinking about COVID or social distancing (74%). A close second is not having to wear a mask anymore (72%). Sixty-two percent say they are excited to see family and friends outside of their household. Fifty-six percent are looking forward to going on holiday trips. Only 7% of Americans are currently going on holiday trips and 15% are going on day trips. Add birthdays, weddings, indoor theaters, and large sporting events to the list of activities to be resumed at the end of the pandemic.

I wanted to know what the ordinary person “on the street” is looking forward to so I conducted an informal poll of my own—stopped people out walking during lunch and asked them what they are anticipating when the pandemic is over. The responses I received mirrored the IPSOS poll for the most part. The people with whom I spoke are looking forward to traveling again, spending time with family and friends, and not wearing masks when the pandemic is over. The most interesting response came from a man who said he is looking forward to a “decent dinner with real saltshakers.”

WHAT ARE CHURCHES LOOKING FORWARD TO?

Well attended worship services. No roped-off pews or rows in the worship center. No masks. Seeing smiles and other facial expressions. Handshakes. Hugs. Singing songs without sounding like you’re singing a solo. Passing the offering plate again. Wait! I went too far. Passing the plate may be the last thing to come back . . . if at all! Thankfully, most people have transitioned to giving in other ways.

The end of COVID (or at least some sort of “All Clear” announcement) is an opportunity for churches to press the RESET button. It will provide a chance to celebrate all that is good about church. And for those who have questioned the relevance of some church activities for a long time, COVID may provide the chance to let them die.

I can’t remember a time when churches have had such an opportunity to “begin again.” Maybe when a new pastor arrives but that is individual congregations. ALL churches have struggled somehow in the last fourteen months. What an opportunity for churches to renew their commitment to their calling to demonstrate God’s love and mercy in their community! Coming soon is the time to SEIZE THE DAY! We’ve been given the permission to land this plane. As we circle around one last time and line up with the runway, let’s land this baby!

“Service to others is the rent you pay for your room here on Earth.” - Muhammad Ali

DO YOU HAVE PLANS FOR THE END OF COVID?

If you are a church leader, have you given any thought to how your church will take advantage of this opportunity to do something that truly presses the RESET button? Are you just looking forward to a return to “normalcy” assuming that will happen eventually as current restrictions go away? Do you have plans for the end of COVID?

One challenge in making plans for the end of this pandemic is knowing when that end comes. It will not be like an end to fighting at the end of a war—an official announcement on a particular day. More likely the end will come slowly and at different times for different communities. There may not be a grand celebration like July 4, a day when everyone pulls out all the stops to pivot from the cloud of the past year to the sunshine of a brighter future. Even so, we can and should celebrate the end of the worst times any of us can remember.

Daniel Webster of dictionary and Revolutionary period fame once said when sailors have been through a rough storm at sea in which they did well just to survive, when the storm is over, they get out their sextant and other directional instruments and set their course as it was originally set. They get back on course. The church is nearing the end of the COVID storm. The time is right to get back on course . . . as determined by our “instrument,” the New Testament.

“How wonderful that no one need wait a single moment to improve the world.” - Anne Frank

CALL TO ACTION

Now is the time for church leaders whether lay or clergy to plan a celebration of the end of the pandemic. That can either be a full-bore resumption of all church activities as they were in January, 2020, or a fresh opportunity to demonstrate to your community that your church is here to serve them. Instead of gathering as many people as possible in worship (which you will do anyhow), why not mobilize your people to serve people in need in your community? Why not show your community that the God you worship every weekend is a God who loves them and sent you to show them? Why not demonstrate the grace of God by sharing it with people who need it desperately?

FOR PASTORS

How are you going to take advantage of the opportunity the end of the pandemic will bring? Are you talking to your congregation about what the church can do to capitalize on this unique situation later in the summer or fall? We at the Inasmuch ministry can help you “seize the day” this year.

[operationinasmuch]

Weeping Over Your City

From time to time Compassionaries will feature a guest blog written by someone outside the Inasmuch ministry. This one is a guest blog written by Dr. Bill Wilson, President of The Center for Healthy Churches. Learn more about Bill from his bio below.

Churches ask me regularly how they can not only survive their current challenges but also thrive in the midst of them. Unfortunately, most of them are asking for quick fixes, or technical solutions to their challenges. The illusion is that new worship style or more lenient dress code or more attractive playground will do the trick. Many hope that they can mimic the big box church on the edge of town that seems to be siphoning off all sorts of people from other churches with a hot band, scintillating preacher, or both. Most are disappointed when I respond that there are no quick fixes to the challenges they face. Like all of us, they want to believe that a few tweaks and minor adjustments are all that is needed to regain the glory days of the past.

Instead, I push them to revisit Acts 2 and examine closely the blueprint for the church that verses 42-47 have provided for the Church for two centuries. There, they will find the familiar five pillars of any healthy church: Worship, Community, Discipleship, Evangelism, and Care for the City.  I then invite them to do a thoughtful self-examination of their church to see how they are engaging in each of these five essentials. I remind them that they do not get to choose their favorites, and that all are necessary for the kind of balance that a healthy church requires.

“They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.” - Acts 2:42 NIV

Sadly, I nearly always find that our churches have prioritized internal community, worship and some form of mild discipleship while relegating outreach of any sort to a select few who “have that gift”. What is nearly always true is that the church has gradually grown inwardly focused and lost its mission, vision, and heart for those outside the church family.

That internal focus is one of the chief traits of a church struggling to survive in the 2020 decade. Ironically, the more their metrics trend downward, the more likely the church is to double down on its internal structures, policies, administrative processes and language of exclusion. The church assumes a defensive posture and erects visible and invisible barriers to outsiders that communicate clearly that this is not a place for newcomers nor are they interested in the needs and issues that plague their city. The vicious cycle accelerates and eventually the church dwindles to a few hearty souls who run the church into oblivion wondering why all their efforts to revitalize have been for naught.

The solution to this gradual decline and death is found in Acts 2. The energy and life that comes to a church which balances an appropriate internal focus with a healthy focus on their external opportunities is a powerful force.  The Holy Spirit erupts and engages such a church in a way that breathes life into every nook and cranny of the building and the hearts of those who participate.

We don’t have to wonder what Jesus would do in our place. Jesus modeled the way he wants his church to look at their city or community. Remember how he felt about the cities of his day? As he traveled around the communities, Matthew 9:36-37 tells us:

“When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, ‘The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few.'” - Matthew 9:36-37 NIV

Later, as he looked over Jerusalem in Luke 19, he wept over the city as he contemplated their blindness to the gospel. What a powerful and instructive moment this was for those who claim his name. Jesus only wept twice in the gospels: once when his friend Lazarus died, and in this moment, when he pondered the dying city before him. If your church isn’t weeping over your city, you are not following Jesus.

When was the last time you wept over your city? Not out of anger or bitterness, but out of a love that moved your heart to a level of compassion that broke your heart and caused tears to stream down your face? Such tears move us to follow the example of Jesus and go to the outsiders with gifts of love, compassion, food, and healing.

Thriving churches in the coming years will be those who weep over their city in compassion and who are then motivated to mobilize themselves en masse to make a difference in the name of Christ. This can’t be left to a few brave souls, or to those who engage in missions when its convenient or who believe loving those outside the church is a matter of “turkeys, toys and trips”. The call is to know your city and embrace your city and give yourself to your city in love and in the name of Christ.

Our churches must uncross our arms, unclench our fists, and let go of our prized possessions if we are to find the abundant life Christ promised us. It is the way of Jesus, and it has been the way of dynamic and thriving churches for 2000 years. Love your city enough to weep over it, and then give yourself away to them. What you will experience will be your own version of Pentecost, and you, too, may see many, many people come to faith in the one who loves them more than they can imagine.

Dr. Bill Wilson has decades of experience as a pastor and consultant with The Center for Healthy Churches. He has a deep passion for the local church and a commitment to the health and success of both clergy and congregations. The Center has worked with about 20 different denominational groups that span the geographical and theological spectrum.

[operationinasmuch]

To Serve Is To Take A Risk

This blog is a follow-up to To Be or Not To Be a Good Samaritan. So, if you haven’t read it yet, you may want to go back to it.

MERCY IS MESSY

Some readers of the last blog questioned whether it is wise to try to be a Good Samaritan in all circumstances. For example, should a woman stop on the highway to help a motorist? Should a team of teenagers go into a neighborhood with a bad reputation to do a compassion ministry project? In reflecting on those comments, I have thought about the place of risk in serving. What I believe is all serving carries with it some risk. It may be no more than the risk of being criticized or rejected by the person we are trying to help. Or, it may be the risk of bodily harm or financial loss or something else.

The nature of serving is to take a risk. To say that another way: mercy is messy. To serve another person is to give something of ourselves for another person—some of “our” money (I say it that way because I believe it’s all God’s; He just allows us to use it for a while), some of our affection, some of our wisdom, some of our time, and so forth. To serve is to share some of ourselves with someone who needs it. Serving, then, costs something and with that cost is the risk that it will be misused or abused or, at least, misunderstood.

Presumably, (Jesus doesn’t explain) that’s why the priest and Levite in the parable in Luke 10 passed by on the other side rather than stop to help the robbery victim on the Jericho Turnpike. To do so would have been to risk defilement according to Jewish law or it would have been to risk the loss of time and/or money or both. One way of explaining the difference between the Samaritan who helped the victim and the two who did not is to see him as willing to take the risk that came with helping. If he was aware of the risks involved in helping the man, he did not allow them to keep him from helping.

RISK IS BAD . . . OR SO WE THINK

Here is the truth: We are averse to risk. How’s that for stating the obvious?! We live in a culture that promotes self-protection evangelistically. Lock your car every time you go out. Be aware of your surroundings at all times. Don’t just keep the doors of your home locked, install a video security system so that not only when you’re home but also when you’re gone, your stuff is safe.

Without a doubt, the world we live in is a dangerous place, more than it was a few decades ago, so that security has become a higher priority than it was for my grandparents. Is it not true that our fear of risk is a boon to the billion-dollar security business? No wonder we are averse to risk. No wonder the fear of risk is a barrier to serving.

TO SERVE IS TO BE VULNERABLE

Another way to talk about risk is in terms of vulnerability. If serving leads to risk and if serving requires us to push past the risk to do it, then serving is a matter of allowing ourselves to be vulnerable. The fascinating TED Talk by Brene’ Brown on “The Power of Vulnerability” reveals the role of vulnerability in a purposeful life. Years of research led her to affirm vulnerability as the key to authenticity which leads to meaningful connections with others and genuine, lasting joy. She looked into the emotional makeup of people who, by her description, have a strong sense of love and belonging. “They believe what makes them vulnerable also makes them beautiful.”

They do not say being vulnerable is comfortable or excruciating, but it is necessary.

I would add that vulnerability is necessary for serving. It may even be the key to serving effectively—putting ourselves “out there” for the benefit of others when there is no guarantee it will go as we expect. Most serving does not require much vulnerability, but sooner or later we will encounter a need that requires more of us than we anticipated and that is when compassion must be stronger than vulnerability. It was for the Samaritan in Luke 10, and it will for us.

The biblical view of serving is to give of oneself to another without regard to safety. Serving is not a matter of convenience and certainly not a matter of being blessed by our service. Authentic serving includes some level of vulnerability. I know this is hard to hear . . . because it’s hard to say, but it’s the truth.

JESUS, THE VULNERABLE

We have a proven model of vulnerability in Jesus. In fact, that one word may be one of the best descriptions of his life—vulnerable. Paul said something like that in Philippians when he said Jesus “made himself nothing” to become one of us. Jesus’ service to the disciples in the upper room just before his arrest in Gethsemane was vulnerable service. And if anyone questions Jesus’ vulnerability, look at the cross.

Back to the question of whether or not to take the risk of helping people on the road. Don’t ask Jesus what He would do. You may not like the answer you get. You can’t trust a person who not only was willing to make himself totally vulnerable but also suffered all the terrible consequences of that vulnerability to give a simple, easy answer to the question of serving in circumstances that are not safe.

YOUR THOUGHTS?

Not everyone will agree with this blog. Whether you agree or disagree, I would LOVE to hear your thoughts. To be or not to be a Good Samaritan is not a simple question. Perhaps God has given you special wisdom here and others would benefit from reading it, so please share.

FOR PASTORS

Beginning with this blog, I am adding a brief section at the end of each blog for pastors who have the opportunity/responsibility to teach about biblical service. We are often challenged to differentiate between serving others in Jesus’ name and “giving back” to the community, e.g., the Boy Scouts collecting food for homeless people. Talking about the risks of serving and pushing past those risks to help others is one way of making that distinction.

[operationinasmuch]

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[operationinasmuch]

To Be or Not To Be a Good Samaritan

See if this sounds familiar. I was driving down the highway when I saw someone slowly, very slowly driving on the shoulder of the road. When I got closer, I saw their left rear tire was flat and they were obviously attempting to make it to an upcoming exit to stop and maybe get help in changing the tire. When I passed them, I thought to myself: “Why didn’t I stop to help them? The driver may not have known how to change a tire and I could have done that.”

Feelings of guilt lingered as I continued on my way. I am willing to say my guilt may have been stronger than most. After all, I work with a ministry that equips churches to mobilize their members to serve people in need. I preach on it… write on it (e.g.: this blog)… and sleep on it. What a louse I am, I thought. What a hypocrite!

WHY PEOPLE DO NOT SERVE OTHERS

You know how I felt. You’ve felt it too… when you passed up the unkempt man on the corner holding up a sign that says “Anything will help”… when you decline to round up what you’re paying for a soft drink at the convenience store to contribute to a local cause… and so on.

Why don’t we stop what we’re doing to help others when they are right there in front of us? For those of us who claim serving others is valued and admired, why don’t we do it more frequently? What’s up with our passing by?

GOOD SAMARITAN

At some point when we find ourselves in the midst of another refusal to act in doing what we can to meet another’s need, the image of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37) surfaces. Remembering Jesus’ story about the two religious leaders who passed by the robbery victim on the Jericho Turnpike and the Samaritan who did act is enough to make our stomach roll and our conscience scream. We cringe to think we are no better than those insensitive, cowardly characters in Jesus’ story.

How much thought have you given to why the priest and Levite “passed by on the other side?” Sermons and Sunday School lessons on the story talk about the Jewish cleanliness rituals that required them to avoid dead bodies and bloody people. That is true, but it’s not convincing. We still criticize them and feel guilty when we do the same thing.

DIGGING DEEPER

When I wrote The Samaritan Way several years ago, naturally I included a discussion of the popular story. (Even I know better than to borrow the name without talking about the story from which it comes!) I shared the most intriguing study I found about why people do not stop to help someone in need. Two profs at Princeton Theological Seminary conducted a little experiment with their students to find out why people do not stop to help others. They created a situation in which the seminarians would encounter a man bent over, coughing, and giving the impression he was in trouble and watched to see which young theologians stopped. They added the variable of telling some of the students to prepare a short talk on the parable of the Good Samaritan and others on a totally different subject. Then they told some they were running late so they should hurry to give their talk and others that they had plenty of time. Of those running late, whether or not they had just reread the parable of the Good Samaritan, only 10% stopped to see if they could help the man in trouble. Of those who thought they had plenty of time, 63% stopped. Having sufficient time mattered more than preparing for ministry or preparing to talk to others about the Good Samaritan.

As I have reflected on this experiment, I agree that convenience of having sufficient time to stop is a major factor in why people do not help someone in need even if the need is squarely in front of them. That doesn’t do much to relieve our guilt when we pass by people needing help, but it may face us with the kind of truth we need to be more like the Samaritan than the priest and Levite in Jesus’ story.

There are possibly a thousand different circumstances in which we may encounter someone needing help and we decide either to help or not to help. This blog can’t begin to cover all those circumstances. So, for our purposes here, let’s confine our questions about helping to those that occur literally on the highways we travel.

ASKING THE RIGHT QUESTION

When it comes to deciding whether to stop to help someone in need, it matters what questions we ask. What will happen to me if I stop? What is the person going to do with my help? Is what I do real help (in the case of giving money) or feeding a destructive habit?

The best insight to this part of the question of whether or not to be a Samaritan-like comes from Martin Luther King, Jr.:

The first question which the Priest and Levite asked was “if I stop to help this man, what will happen to me?” The Samaritan reversed the question: “If I do not stop to help this man, what will happen to him?”

I did not ask that question when I passed by the motorist with a flat tire. But I felt sufficiently guilty that I said a short prayer asking God to forgive me and if He would give me another opportunity, I would not pass by again. Sure enough, not 30 minutes down the road, I saw another motorist stopped on the shoulder. I exited at my first opportunity, turned around and went back. He was pouring gas into his vehicle. I asked if I could help. He said he was okay, but he thanked me for stopping. We talked a few minutes (actually I listened to him talk for at least 10 minutes while he poured gas). Eventually, I went on my way without doing anything to help the man. Nevertheless, he was grateful I stopped, and I was, too. When he thanked me for stopping, he said people don’t do that anymore. As a former truck driver, he had seen plenty of instances in which people refused to stop (probably including him though I can’t be sure of that).

So I didn’t help him. Or did I? Was my stopping at all helpful? No, if you think only of the material help he needed—gas for his car. But the answer can be yes if you think of the encouragement it was to him that someone cared enough to stop. My focus is not on what I did but on the impact someone stopping to ask if he needed help was on him. What this man said told me he was truly grateful I stopped, and the fact that someone—at least one of the thousands of motorists who passed by—stopped, and he was given hope, if only for a few minutes… of the reminder of the day, that the road is not such an impersonal, uncaring place after all. One can never overestimate the power of hope.

When Jesus told the parable of the Good Samaritan, why did he make it so black-and-white? Why didn’t he anticipate other, more complicated circumstances of need and address those? I don’t know… nor does anyone else. What we DO know is Jesus told this story to a man who wanted a definition of “neighbor.” And so, Jesus finished his story by saying to his one-person audience, “Go and do likewise.” (Luke 10:37) I am convinced he says the same to us.

YOUR THOUGHTS?

I would love to hear your story about being or not being a Good Samaritan when you had the chance. What other insights do you have into Jesus’ parable that can help people in everyday occurrences of need? Perhaps responses here can launch a healthy discussion regarding to be or not to be a Good Samaritan.

[operationinasmuch]

We Need the Poor

Now that I have your attention, let me explain. Mercy ministry is a necessary part of what it means to follow Jesus. God’s love in Jesus needs an outlet. People in need are the best “outlet” or recipients of Jesus’ love through us, his ministers. As a coach needs a team to lead and a teacher needs at least one student, so believers need people in need to serve in order to be authentic followers of Jesus.

Or think about our need for the poor in terms of God’s priorities. I like the way Michael Elliot says it in his book Playing Hide and Seek which is not a book about children’s games, but about finding God in places we do not expect. Elliot says:

God wants us to know that being involved with the poor makes us quit thinking so much about ourselves—and God wants us to think less about ourselves.

God wants us to think about new things, and poor people force us to think about things we would usually never consider.

Being involved with poor people forces us to rely on God when looking for a solution to problems too overwhelming to solve on our own.

Humility is not thinking less of yourself; it is thinking of yourself less. C.S. Lewis

OUT OF SIGHT—OUT OF MIND

All of us are creatures of habit. We move about our community in the same traffic patterns most of the time. We rarely go into the pockets of despair that exist in our community. We don’t see people in need because we don’t go where they are. Consequently, we forget that some children go to bed hungry regularly. We forget that there are people in our community without a job or a home. We forget that there are millions of people who are victimized by greed or injustice. We forget and forget… because we do not see them. And because they are out of sight, they are out of mind.

We need the poor to remind us they exist. Possibly the most surprising consequence of the out-of-sight-out-of-mind reality is that those of us who are “haves” live impoverished lives. Not impoverished in the same way that the poor live, but impoverished from the truth about our world. As many newspapers’ mastheads remind us: What we don’t know does hurt us.

PURPOSE FOR LIFE

Most of us understand that we have a responsibility to care for others even if we do not always exhibit that understanding in our behavior. We do not need to hear a sermon on serving others to be convinced, although if the sermon contains practical suggestions as to how to serve others, it will be helpful.

One of the strongest indicators of sound mental health and happiness is a sense of self-worth. Study after study verifies this fact. Nothing so satisfies our need of self-worth and purpose than doing for others, especially those in need. In this well-known book Fearfully and Wonderfully Made Dr. Paul Brand tells the story of one Abbe’ Pierre, a Catholic friar assigned to work among the beggars of Paris following WWII. After several attempts at more conventional ways of helping the poor, Pierre found the most effective means of helping them was giving each one the responsibility of helping beggars poorer than themselves. He organized them to build a warehouse and gather discarded bottles around the city which they used to build a profitable business. In time the number of beggars in Paris dwindled and this ministry faced a crisis. In Brand’s words:

Pierre said: “I must find someone for my beggars to help! If I don’t find people worse off than my beggars, this movement could turn inward. They’ll become a powerful, rich organization and the whole spiritual impact will be lost! They’ll have no one to serve.”

SPIRITUAL GROWTH

I heard about a prominent pastor who told a small group at a national conference: “I’m done with small groups! All they do is ask what we’ve done for them lately.” He went on to explain himself: “We’ve found that people grow more spiritually when they serve others than in any other way.”

So, let me ask: Has this been your experience? Can you remember when you grew noticeably in your relationship with God? In what ways were you serving people in need at that time?

SERVING JESUS

A lot of people treat Jesus’ words in Matthew 25, the “inasmuch” passage (in the KJV or NKJV), figuratively. That is to say, they do not believe Jesus meant service to the hungry, the naked, the imprisoned, and so forth is in face service to him.

Such an interpretation not only disrespects Jesus’ words but it also disregards what we know about him. The Jesus who calmed a violent storm with his voice and healed a woman who merely touched the hem of his clothes is capable of being spiritually present in the people of need we encounter on the highways of life. The Jesus who was raised from the dead is capable of being wherever he chooses, whenever he chooses, and in whomever he chooses—including the poor, the oppressed, and the hopeless.

Jesus said: “Inasmuch as you have done it to the least of these, you have done it to me.” Matthew 25:40

Consider the story of Lynne McCauley reported in an article on the Leadership Network website.

I sat down to have breakfast with two homeless men [at an inner-city outreach program] and talk about life on the streets. As we were talking, one of the men began to have a seizure. I was a critical care nurse for 11 years, so I was familiar with the scenario and helped lay him on the ground and to talk to him during the episode. As I knelt beside him on the floor and talked, he kept his vision locked on me and I on him. The paramedics arrived and began to care for him in a cold and impersonal way. All the while he stayed locked on me. As they bundled him on the gurney and prepared to roll him out to the ambulance, he pulled down his oxygen mask, looked me directly in the eye and whispered, “Thank you.” I looked at this man — dirty, unkempt, vomit on his beard and smelling of alcohol and urine — and I thought to myself, “I am looking into the face of Christ.” I knew right then that I was right where God wanted me and I have been involved [in mercy ministry] ever since.

YOUR THOUGHTS?

Do you agree or disagree with the statement “We need the poor?” Do you have reasons other than those cited above why this is true?

[operationinasmuch]

Why We Feel Good When We Serve

If you have ever tried to recruit volunteers to serve, there is a good chance you said something like “You will feel good when you do it.”  You said that because it’s true.  We do in fact feel good when we serve.  As a pastor, I often told my congregation there is a special joy that comes from serving, and pretty much everyone who heard that understood it.

But why?  Why do we feel good when we serve?  Is it simply a warm feeling somewhere down deep inside that is hard to describe but we know it when we feel it?  Is it the knowledge we are doing the right thing (I call it the Wilfred Brimley effect from his old commercials for Quaker Oats)?  Is it because we believe our standing with our peers is enhanced by our serving?

Hard Wired to Serve

It turns out we are hard wired to serve.  There are biological reasons for why we feel good when we serve. Medical science has long known that volunteering contributes to better health.  The most recent contribution to this knowledge is Marta Zaraska’s Growing Young:  How Friendship, Kindness, and Optimism Can Help You Live to 100.  

Zaraska has replaced the traditions of diet and exercise as keys to a healthier life with convincing arguments and ample evidence that social engagement, kindness, and/or serving do more for longevity.  That’s counterintuitive for most of us.  

And it was for Marta Zaraska, too . . . until she took a closer look at what actually works.  After years of research, she concluded that “diet and exercise [are] not the most important things . . . to encourage my family’s longevity.  Instead of shipping for organic goji berries, I should concentrate on our social lives and [emotional] makeup.  I should look for a purpose in life, not the best fitness tracker.”

Each of us has what Zaraska calls a caregiving system—biological processes or parts of our brain that encourages us to care for others. She confirms that this system is in place to help us care for our young (human babies are the most vulnerable of all animals) and it contributes to better, stronger communities which in itself aids survival.  Actually, there are 2 aspects of this system:  one is reward-inducing and the other  stress-reducing.

The book is a fascinating read and I commend it, but I have only the space here to focus on the benefits of serving.  Zaraska discusses the medical and emotional benefits. I will add a third—spiritual benefits.

Serving makes us Healthier

It’s a fact:  serving reduces mortality by 22 to 44 percent.  People who volunteer have 29% lower risk of high blood pressure, 17% lower risk of inflammation levels, and spend 38% fewer nights in the hospital.  

How many times have you heard how bad stress is for your health? But how do we reduce our stress? Serving others does that.  Our brains have a part called the amygdala which is the fight-and-flight center.  When we are stressed, the amygdala is triggered so that either we feel threatened and angry or we try to escape what we perceive as a threat. Serving actually calms the amygdala. As Zaraska puts it, “ . . . helping others calms us down.”  

The vagus (the long snake of a nerve bundle that connects the brain, heart, and gut) helps us relax after stress.  Zaraska refers to the vagus as the nerve of compassion and caring. “When people engage in activities that make them experience compassion, the activity of their vagus goes up,” says Zaraska.  At one high school in Canada, students were divided into 2 groups.  The first group was to volunteer at a nearby elementary school helping kids in after-school programs.  The second group was wait-listed.  When blood samples from all the teens were compared, a clear image emerged: those who volunteered had significantly lower levels of an inflammatory marker called interleukin 6.  Increased levels of interleukin 6 can double the risk of dying within the next 5 years.There is much more to the medical benefits of serving but perhaps this is enough to show we are hard wired to serve.

Serving makes us Happier

Zaraska conducted her own personal (unscientific) experiment to see if serving others does in fact enhance our mood.  Over 7 days she alternated between going about her normal activities on some days and focusing on showing others kindness on others.  For example, on one of her “kindness days,” she left a smiley face sticky note on a neighbor’s car.  She bought and delivered chocolates for a lady at the library.  In the evening she left five-star ratings for her favorite restaurants.  The results: “I don’t know whether my telomeres got longer and whether my cortisol response was more healthy, but I certainly felt better, happier.  Broccoli has never given me this feeling, that’s for sure.”

She included in her experiment the measurement of certain markers indicating stress levels. What she found was that on her days of kindness to others her body had lower levels of stress.  The testing even showed that her stress levels came down as she was engaged in helping others.  She adds: “A pleasant mood is not the only benefit we may derive from [serving] others.  The gains can be as varied as better sleep, better hearing, stronger muscles, and lower blood pressure.”

Serving makes God Happier

If you are a church leader, what I have said above may be interesting, even intriguing, but something doesn’t feel right.  Are we supposed to ask believers to serve because it will make them live longer, happier lives?  Are we to appeal to their drive to survive?  Even if all this about the medical and emotional benefits of serving are true, what about God’s commands to care for the poor and oppressed? Is it not self-serving to help others because of the benefits that we derive from it?

If we are indeed hard wired to serve, is that not so because God made us that way?  Perhaps medical science is only now discovering the physical and emotional benefits of serving, but they have been there all along.  Now we can say it with more conviction than ever:  God made us to serve.

In my book The Samaritan Way: Lifestyle Compassion Ministry, I argue that “receiving a blessing” as a result of our service is an unworthy motive for serving.  Rather, being moved by God’s Spirit to share with others in need is better.  Living as Jesus lived in serving people in need is more noble and more obedient.  

Serving not only calms us from stress and enhances our mood, but it also demonstrates God’s love and I submit that is a much better reason to do it. Serving may help us be healthier and live longer, but it also helps people see that the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and the Father of Jesus loves them.  And that can do more for them than food in their bellies or clothes on their back.

[operationinasmuch]

Adapting Mercy Ministry in a Pandemic

The key word for 2020-21 is adapt. Everyone, from business to education to churches have had to adapt what they do to keep going during the COVID pandemic.  And that is much more than posting a sign on your front door telling people masks are required to enter.

ADAPT IS THE DOMINANT WORD FOR CHURCHES

Churches have had to adapt how they worship—in-person or not, how many people, live streaming for the first time—how they provide religious education, how they do committee meetings (Don’t you wish you had bought stock in Zoom in 2019!), etc.  Mercy ministry has suffered during the pandemic because of restrictions on gathering as well as fear of simply being with others.  Some have adapted while others are waiting until the pandemic is over to resume ministry to people in need.  The unfortunate reality is this is a double whammy–there are many more people in need now than prior to the pandemic but fewer churches are engaged in serving them.

I was interim pastor in a Baptist church in my town until recently.  That church has several excellent, hands-on compassion ministries but the pandemic has changed how they do them if at all.  One is providing temporary housing for homeless families in partnership with Family Promise.  During COVID the church has suspended this ministry because of gathering restrictions at Family Promise’s request.  Another is Food Coop, food distribution to about 20 families every other week in which the families are required to help out.  Food is still being distributed but recipients can no longer enter the building to participate in a time of sharing and devotion because of the pandemic.

FROM ADAPTATION TO NEW LIFE

Some of the surprises of COVID are the new opportunities that have come about.  Ask Zoom about that!  Some churches have lamented the loss of long-time ministries only to discover new ones as a result of the pandemic.  The church where I was Interim broadcasts their Sunday worship via local television.  During the pandemic their viewership skyrocketed as many people could not attend their own church.

Souper Bowl of Caring is one ministry that has found new life as a result of the pandemic.  It began humbly in 1990 when a Presbyterian minister, Brad Smith, in Columbia, South Carolina challenged his congregation to place a dollar into a football helmet on their way out of church on Super Bowl Sunday.  He said all the money given would be given to local food pantries to feed hungry people.  To see a video of Brad Smith talking about this unique approach to hunger relief, click here.

Alison Reese, Executive Director of Souper Bowl of Caring, says the movement grew for years with hundreds of churches participating in the unique fundraising effort but in recent years they struggled.  Their Board of Directors talked about closing the organization. Then COVID came and with it a new and much more daunting challenge for their mission, again a double whammy—more hungry people! According to McKinsey the need for food has increased by 60%, but at the same time it will be harder to raise money to help feed hungry people.  If people aren’t able to attend church, you can’t expect much money to be given on Super Bowl Sunday.  In the summer of 2019, the future was not promising for SBoC.

Then the Department of Defense called asking if SBoC could help them distribute FEMA resources, particularly food to people and organizations needing it (which gives new meaning to the saying “I’m from the government and I’m here to help you!”).  They said Feeding America, the largest hunger relief organization in the U.S, couldn’t help them.  With some funding help from the DoD, SBoC developed the Tackling Hunger Map, a database of 12,000 food charities across the U.S.  With this database, a church or an individual wanting to locate a food charity close by can do so through the Tackling Hunger Map.  Furthermore, each food charity can login to the site and post their real time needs.  Anyone can donate to any food charity using the site.  SBoC simply receives the donations and writes local charities a check each month.  The food charity gets information about donors and thanks them.

FROM CRISIS TO OPPORTUNITY

All of this came about because of COVID!  Whereas SBoC was fighting to survive in 2019, they are thriving in 2021.  Reese says:  “We are more effective now than ever before and we didn’t even see this coming.  Now, we envision a time when every food charity in America is listed on and makes use of the Tackling Hunger Map, and the day will come when international charities will too.”

The Chinese word for crisis can also be translated opportunity.  Of all people, believers should understand this.  Think about Joseph and in the Old Testament and the birth of the church in the New Testament.  Our God is a God who is still in the business of bringing good from bad, opportunity from crisis.  One might even say that’s His specialty.  Everyone is dreaming of the day when COVID is in our rear-view mirror, but God is at work NOW . . . in the midst of it all.

TELL US YOUR STORY

How has the pandemic changed how your church is doing compassion ministry?  What adaptations of mercy ministry has led to new opportunities?

[operationinasmuch]

❗ Inasmuch Project Idea ❗ Host a Job Seeking Class for your community members. Identify and recruit the business leaders within your congregation to lead classes on job hunting (sites to use, LinkedIn, etc.), resume preparation, job interviewing skills, and networking. These classes can even be done through Zoom! 💻 Consider partnering with an established agency in your community who may already have identified individuals in need of such skills. #inasmuch #community #church #pastor #churchleaders #compassion https://www.instagram.com/p/CBnniF1A2Ds/?igshid=1qyq9618qf2sf

[operationinasmuch]

God calls the church to get outside its walls to minister to people. Yet, it is surprising how little influence many churches have on their communities. Operation Inasmuch is a viable model for expanding the church's influence. Swipe to see four distinct ways Inasmuch churches have found to impact their community. Visit operationinasmuch.org to get a copy of the "Operation Inasmuch: Mobilizing Believers Beyond The Walls Of The Church" book to learn more. #church #churchleaders #pastor #missions #inasmuch #community https://www.instagram.com/p/CBd86pEg05S/?igshid=1qog7ewgidvc5

[operationinasmuch]

💡 Inasmuch Project Idea 💡 👨🏻‍🏫 Teacher Appreciation Day 👩🏽‍🏫 ✏ Collect and donate school supplies to local teachers. Attach notes, poems, prayers, and/or scripture to each package. Swipe to see some examples and share your ideas in the comments. #TeacherAppreciation #compassion #church https://www.instagram.com/p/B_z4p51nuuT/?igshid=ugy7yhf7e6mm

[operationinasmuch]

A little #WednesdayWisdom for you. . . . #gandhiquotes #serveothers #compassion https://www.instagram.com/p/B_k1XTEHt-O/?igshid=ppwqogrgseiv

[operationinasmuch]

Make your life your argument. Dr. Albert Schweitzer is one of the most impressive models of compassion ministry in history. He earned doctorates in theology, music, and medicine, yet he gave up a life of status to serve the unserved in Africa. In the 1950's author Norman Cousins paid Schweitzer a visit in Africa. He asked the doctor if he was glad he had spent most of his life there serving the poorest of the poor. Schweitzer said he was very glad. He went on to say: As a young man, my main ambition was to be a good minister. I completed my studies and started to teach. I became the principal of the seminary. . . . I developed some of my own ideas. Now, what was I to do? Was I to teach . . . [what] I had been taught but now did not believe? Was I to teach what I believed but [was at variance with those who taught me]? I decided to do neither. I decided that I would leave the seminary. Instead of trying to get acceptance for my ideas, . . . I decided I would make my life my argument. I would advocate the things I believed in terms of the life I lived and what I did. Instead of vocalizing my belief in the existence of God within each of us, I would attempt to have my life and work say what I believed. Norman Cousins, Dr. Schweitzer of Lambarene (Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1973). The Bible says: “What does it profit . . . if a man says he has faith but has not works? . . . So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead” (James 2:14, 17). #compassionministry #church https://www.instagram.com/p/B_YDkPHDwSo/?igshid=1q31od8z4lbz3

[operationinasmuch]

What is your quarantine score? 😷 Share your answer in the comments. https://www.instagram.com/p/B_Fn4J9pQ13/?igshid=pmlpx6s6o4v5