In today’s society, there are thousands upon thousands of “needs”. But how many of those “needs” are actually not needs, but are wants? And for the real needs, is the Church supposed to play a part? Is the Church a part of the solution to the problem of needs?
The answer to this question is an undoubted yes. The Bible, in the first part of Acts, portrays the early Church as an organization that helped others. In a society that focuses so much on self, this is something that can be hard to understand. Here in this nation, the people as a whole have become focused entirely upon themselves. This is the first need, the need to “die” to self. This does not mean that a body should go and completely purge himself of, well, himself. Instead, this means that people are to move the focus from themselves, to others. They are to not think less of themselves, but think of themselves less. When someone focuses on someone else, they do not lose themselves, neither their personality nor their individuality, but instead become more themselves than ever. People were created to be social; it is how they were created. God created man to yearn to belong, to be a part of more than just himself. When self is thought of less, this basic instinctual need is met.
The needs of today are this: to abolish self (in the sense afore mentioned), to care for the poor, and to help shine the light of Truth upon a world gone dark with lies and deceit. There is a major deception in this world. The fallen angels see to it that there is. Although, no matter what people (or rather, Christians) do, that deception will not be lifted. Not yet. It has not yet played its part in history. However, Christians must still strive to battle it, to shine their light. In society today, the poor are looked down upon. They are looked and sometimes treated as though they were less than a human being, but everyone should challenge themselves to think, “what if that were me?”. When someone thinks this, they are no longer dwelling upon themselves, they are putting themselves into someone else’s shoes and looking at the world in a whole new way. The way Jesus taught when He came and flipped this world upside down. The Church has a responsibility to step up and follow the example that was placed before it. If the Church focused on helping the poor and elderly more, there would not be any troubles with the Social Security.
This leads to the next point: what is the Church’s mission? Is it responsible to the needs of this world? The answer is yes. The Church, as a whole, should focus more on the needs of others. Of course, this is exactly what it has done for centuries, but now, it feels as though it has begun to slip away from that mission. It is time for a wakeup call. The Church has begun to nod off, but the battle is only beginning. The world of today strives to separate everyone, to drive them apart. This mustn’t happen, nor will it. As mentioned before, man was created to interact with others. People need people in order to survive, whether they wish different. There are some things in this world that can be changed, but there are many more that cannot.
God has always cared for those that no one else would. It is part of His nature. As the children of God, Christians should do the same. When the world looks down upon the orphans, the widows, the prostitutes, the abused, the accused, the victimized, the hurting, the lonely, the grieving, and the dying, Christians should be there, at the side of each and every single one of them. To help them. To guide them. To comfort them. To help break the chains that cannot be broken alone. There is already enough pain and sorrow and loneliness in this world. It is time for them to be driven back. Now, that does not mean that the bad will no longer come. It will, for it is a part of this life. Joy cannot come without pain coming before or after. If one is to be accepted, the other must be as well. Sometimes the good seems to be outweighed by the bad, but bad can be made into good, with God’s help. God can do that; He can take the bad and have something good come of it.
The Church is the one that should be teaching this message. Spreading the word that yes, bad things happen, but God isn’t the one to blame for it. We are. We are the ones that brought suffering into this world. It is because of our choices that bad things happen. However, people still have a choice when suffering does come: they can either let it tear them apart and leave them broken and shattered, or they can take that experience and allow it to help them grow strong. Sometimes, people must go through the “dark places” of life in order to learn a specific lesson. There is a reason and a purpose for all that happens. It is up to the individual to learn what it is. However, just because one person goes through an experience and learns a lesson, then another goes through the exact same thing and learns something as well, does not mean that they will both arrive at the same lesson. This is because of situation and circumstance.
As for what my own part to play in all this is, I haven’t got the faintest idea, but that is okay. Whatever purpose that I have, I shall continuously strive for it. Never shall I give up until I have found it. Although, I believe I may know at least part of how I fit into the scheme of things. I enjoy helping others whenever I can. When I see someone in need of something, and I know that I can help, I don’t hesitate. I step to the plate and swing, without even thinking of being repaid for however it is that I helped them.
Jeremiah 29:11-14a
"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you," declares the Lord.
God already knows what is in store for us, but He allows us to find it out for ourselves so that we can grow strong enough to survive in our faith. A good analogy of this is a caterpillar breaking free from its chrysalis.
Let’s say we are on a hike. It’s a beautiful day, with only a few clouds in a sapphire sky. As we are hiking through a forest, we stop to rest. To our delight, we find a chrysalis that is just being opened. Now, we could help the butterfly out. Take a twig or a knife and widen the hole so it can get out, but if we did that, the butterfly would die. Why? Because it needed that struggle in order to grow strong enough to survive, to spread its wings and fly.
That is what it takes. So let’s face it. Let’s turn to the future and say, “Bring it on!” Not in a proud way that says, “I can get through anything because I’m strong.” But instead, let us say it in way that says, “This is going to hurt, but we have to keep going.” The pain is necessary at times. And don’t go saying that it isn’t fair. Life isn’t fair, and whoever said that was lied about it. Life is hard, but the thing to learn is what I mentioned earlier. We have to learn to accept the good with the bad.
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