When God Wants the Little I Have Left

I've been studying 1 Kings 17 recently and asking myself, why would God send Elijah to a widow during a famine?  Common sense and decency demands that if I am in need, I should seek out a person of means to ask for help, not someone who is barely surviving.  

Note that in times of disaster, whether acts of God or man-made evil, it is always the poor and the vulnerable who suffer the most.  During the recent tornado you may have noticed that it is those who have less who live in the most vulnerable structures and who more often have transportation challenges.  In other words, they have less ability to flee evil and so they take refuge in inferior shelters (i.e. mobile homes, houses without cellars, etc.)  You find this to be true when you analyze disasters that have hit Haiti, Bangladesh, and other impoverish places.  You also find this to be true in war zones, etc.

So, why in a time of regional natural disaster did God instruct Elijah to ask a widow for her last meal?  This seems utterly insensitive.  The answer is that God delights in giving good gifts to those who put their faith in him.  Sometimes God asks us for something when we feel we have nothing left to give him.  He asks because he's giving us an opportunity to exercise faith in Him which will bring blessing.

This widow and her son were saved from starvation because she was asked to give what little she had.  What is God asking from you?

¹⁵ She went away and did as Elijah had told her. So there was food every day for Elijah and for the woman and her family. ¹⁶ For the jar of flour was not used up and the jug of oil did not run dry, in keeping with the word of the Lord spoken by Elijah. 

Are evangelistic churches shallow?

What about the claim that outreach oriented churches are shallow spiritually?  

When people use "shallow" to describe churches I typically pick up a judgmental attitude behind the claim.  The better word would be "maturing" or if it fits, "immature."  In John chapter 4, the woman at the well would be categorized as spiritually immature.  She was enthusiastic about Christ, but she had a lot of spiritual and emotional baggage.  If a church has some people like her then they are fulfilling their mission, and at the same time they will have some messy issues they'll need to work through.  

The reality is that churches who reach out find themselves incorporating new (immature) believers into their church and that affects the church in a similar way that introducing a bunch of babies and children into your home would change your family dynamics.  If a family chose to have 10 young children at the same time you could call them an "immature" bunch, and you'd be right...but what's the point of such a label?  

Rather than judgmental labeling, more mature believers must sense the urgency of entering into the life of these young believers and helping create a culture of loving correction.  For this to happen it takes a commitment of loving and patient life-on-life investment similar to that of a mentor of at-risk youth or a foster parent.  Pauls says (Gal 6:1, 2) -  

Brothers and sisters, if someone is caught in a sin, you who live by the Spirit should restore that person gently. But watch yourselves, or you also may be tempted. Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. 

The word "restore" is the same Greek word as was used when Jesus finds Peter "mending" his net.  This is a careful, thoughtful, redemptive process to be undertaken by everyone in the church who is considered "spiritual."  

What about church growth?

I read today in the AZ Republic that in 2012 Buckeye was the 9th fastest growing city in America.  That's good news for businesses and churches who are looking for new customer/members.  That's good news for my church!

http://www.azcentral.com/business/arizonaeconomy/articles/20130522phoenix-poised-pass-philadelphia-buckeyes-surge-ranks-th-us.html

Some Christians struggle with the notion of church growth... or as it seems, they dislike attempts at strategic growth when it incorporates marketing, networking, relevant programing, financial campaigns and other "business practices."

At it's heart, church growth should be about connecting disconnected Christians to the Body of Christ and reaching out to non-Christians with the Gospel.  When this is the motive, and as long as Godliness and biblical teaching are not being compromised, church growth is a good thing (actually a mandatory thing.)

In 1 Cor 9:20-23 Paul says,

To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law. To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God’s law but am under Christ’s law), so as to win those not having the law. To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some. I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings. 

For Paul, serving God was all about using whatever abilities and resources he had in order to reach as many people as possible with the Gospel.  Paul saw "culture" as a tool to relate himself and his message to people whom he didn't know but whom he knew God cared for deeply.  Same thing goes for the church today.  We're called to use the common sense things of our culture merely as tools in order to relate church and our message to those distanced from Christ with the hope that many will come to Him!