What only love can do

I wish that every Christian I know could view a segment from CBS TV's 60 Minutes program that aired last Wednesday evening.
(see http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/11/10/60minutes/main1036922.shtml)
Bob Simon visited Pakistan and reported on 13 American paramedics who are working to help people who were injured in the earthquake that struck there 6 weeks ago. The region was devastated on a scale that is almost beyond imagination. Over 90,000 people are counted dead so far. Entire villages were destroyed and, because they are so remote, no official agencies had reached them 3 weeks after the 'quake! The 13 Americans whose story was told in this segment, went to help on their own, without assistance. They are working in a place that is in the heart of Osama Bin Laden country, where anti-Americanism is rampant, where there are many training camps for Islamic jihadists. AND.... they are accomplishing what the guns of our armies cannot accomplish! In addition to saving lives, they are changing hearts. One of the paramedics reported, “One guy came up to me yesterday and was holding out his hands like this. And I'm looking. I'm like, ‘Oh does he want treatment?’ And he was signaling me to put my hands out and he said, ‘We have five fingers, five fingers, arm, arm, elbow, elbow. We're the same.’ And then he shook my hand.” These heroes are the first Americans most of these Pakistani's have ever met! What a first impression.

Those 13 paramedics from NYC are ambassadors of the USA. They represent this country, though that is not their primary mission. Similarly, Believers represent the Kingdom of Jesus everyday! People draw conclusions about what a Christian is like, who Jesus is, and the validity of the faith - based on our words and actions. Our care, our service to others - motivated by the love of Jesus Christ - can and will change the hearts of people who are skeptical about Christianity. All the ad campaigns, all the arguments, all the grand schemes created to convince others that Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world will not have the effect that humble, serving Christians have when we live with the love of Jesus causing us to meet human needs that are around us. 2 Cor. 5.20 refers to Believers as "Christ's ambassadors." I am convinced that there will be more people in Heaven because of simple acts of service that lifted up Christ than because of the all the books and sermons preached in fiery fervency! My own grandparents became Believers because, at a critical time in their lives when Grandfather Scott was terribly injured in an automobile accident, a group of Christians from a little country church came and did his farm work, for weeks on end. Those anonymous servants in NW Iowa changed the course of life for dozens of us who are his descendants because they milked cows and tilled fields in the name of Jesus.

We must take care that we do not become manipulative with our acts of service, trying to impress, using 'compassion' as a propaganda tool. Christian service that is done with an ulterior motive of making converts quickly becomes corrupt! Love for God, love of others are the only motives that are pure. Conversions are incidental, though inevitable. John reminds us that 'we love because He first loved us.' Christian service that does not flow from love is useless, even offensive according to 1 Corinthians 13 where we read, "If I could speak in any language in heaven or on earth but didn’t love others, I would only be making meaningless noise like a loud gong or a clanging cymbal.If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I knew all the mysteries of the future and knew everything about everything, but didn’t love others, what good would I be? And if I had the gift of faith so that I could speak to a mountain and make it move, without love I would be no good to anybody. If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it; but if I didn’t love others, I would be of no value whatsoever." (1 Corinthians 13:1-3, NLT)

Who is waiting to be loved in your circle of influence?

There are opportunities to serve right where we are. We do not have to travel to Pakistan (though some of us might do that) to show Christ's love. We may just listen carefully to the person in the next cube at work. We may just help our extended family through a crisis. We may become a faithful volunteer in some local hospital or agency. We may just need to dethrone Self and serve our family lovingly.

Love is a powerful catalyst for change. All the power of the armies that march the face of the earth cannot accomplish what an army motivated by the love of Christ can. Have you signed on? Have you accepted your commission to become a person that loves genuinely in His Name?