How much does the Kingdom of God suffer when we pat ourselves on the back for our “random acts of kindness” rather than strategically, intentionally, painstakingly building His kingdom?
A couple of weeks ago, I was reading Whose Child is This? by Bill Wilson. He writes Metro Church about the ministry he founded, by God’s grace, in New York City. They work in ghettos of NYC that make Northeast Minneapolis look like Mayberry. Bill has witnessed 21 murders. He and his staff members have been mugged, robbed, beaten, and shot. This is what they’re willing to face in order to reach children and families in areas full of drugs, prostitution, and gang violence. What an amazing example of what I talked about in the last post: living among the people. But that wasn’t the main thing that caught my attention in this book. Each week they bus in over 20,000 children to their Sunday school programs, and they are having a palpable impact. To what do they attribute the success of their ministry? Personal visitation. Their 100+ full time staff and 350 volunteers make over 20,000 personal visits to the kids every week. Through this, ongoing relationships are established, children feel loved (often for the first time), and disciples are made.
As I read about this, the Holy Spirit convicted me. Sure, we try to do a lot of home visits. But to visit every child every week, taking with us words of Life and finding ways to meet practical needs—would it not revolutionize our ministry?
But it wouldn’t be easy. It would take strong commitment and incredible intentionality.
And so I come back to the question I started with. How much are we missing out on when we fail to be intentional in our ministry efforts? Can we do away with random acts of kindness and start doing intentional acts of kindness? Can we start seeing relationships as the foundation of ministry rather than programs?
Again, I look at Jesus’ life and see someone who was very intentional. He said “no” to things that were not in accordance with his purpose (see, for example Mark 1:35-39). Rather than just teaching whoever would listen, He focused most of his efforts on teaching twelve young men for three years and equipping them for ministry. He always had his ultimate purpose in mind, and when the climax of His ministry was drawing near, Jesus “set his face” for His death in Jerusalem (Luke 9:51, ESV).
I am thankful for the intentionality I see in Living Hope. We have a target area that Steve has “set his face” on for the past 18 years. I see numerous volunteers calling students, meeting with them outside of ministry programs, and writing to them. But I also see room for growth, and I ask you to join with me in praying for greater passion, commitment, consistency, focus, and unity of purpose. Please pray that we will be intentional about intercessory prayer, meeting real needs (Acts 2:42-45), sharing the good news of Jesus, making disciples (Matt. 28:18-20, 2 Tim. 2:2), and equipping the saints for the work of ministry (Eph. 4:12).
As for me, I am beginning to set aside time in my schedule for home visits, and I am beginning to disciple a student one-on-one. They are baby steps, but may God be glorified in them!
