Loving Someone to Christ

I recently read an article entitled “Downward Mobility in an Upscale World” by Shane Claiborne. Shane is founder of The Simple Way – a faith community in Philadelphia that ministers to inner city persons. We might call it “rescue mission” ministry, except that “rescue” is what all ministry is about – rescuing people from sin and its awful effects, whether it be those circumstances that force people onto the street, into the ghetto, or propels them into an affluent lifestyle that is indifferent to the legitimate needs of others.

Shane Claiborne and those who share his passion to make the Kingdom of God known by taking it to the streets of the inner city are some of the most committed Christians in the world.

I began to think. Perhaps you don’t possess a passion for the inner city, or for cross cultural (foreign) ministry. But somewhere in every Christian’s spirit there should be a passion for Christ and His Kingdom and a passion for others. The others may be family, friends, or even the neighbors on your street. If there is no passion for anyone you know, love or with whom you work or play to encounter Christ, then something is wrong. You are not a committed Christian. Shouldn’t we all be committed Christians? Is there really another kind?

As a college student I was challenged by a particular speaker at a student assembly. This man had taken Bibles into the European nations at that time under Communist rule as well as the Soviet Union. He asked the student body to pray that God would dismantle the Iron Curtain and make possible the free distribution of Bibles and freedom to preach the Gospel in that part of the world. Specifically, he asked that we pray freedom of religion become a reality in the Soviet Union. I prayed this way for twenty years – until 1989 when the Berlin Wall fell, Communism was toppled across Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union established freedom of religion. I was amazed in 1997 when I was privileged to travel to Ukraine and minister to Ukrainian and Russian pastors, sharing with them the goodness and reality of Jesus Christ. My passion for this part of the world, made very real through prayer over twenty years, is still strong.

My passion for our own nation and my community is stronger than ever.

Shane Claiborne writes, “When we get to heaven and are separated into sheep and goats (Matt.25), I don’t believe Jesus is going to say, ‘When I was hungry, you gave a check to the United Way and they fed me’ or ‘when I was naked, you donated to the Salvation Army and they clothed me.’ Jesus is not seeking distant acts of charity. He is seeking concrete actions: ‘You fed me…you visited me…you welcomed me in…you clothed me…”

Jesus is not seeking distant acts of charity. He is seeking concrete actions.

It is time for Christians to move beyond talk and engage in prayer for those in spiritual and material need. This will kindle passion for them. Then, with the passionate love of Christ providing the motivation, we can speak and minister to them – directly and effectively.

This is what we mean when we talk about…

Loving someone to Christ.