Early this morning I'm reading the devotional distributed by Union Baptist Church. The reading is from Jude 22. "Others save with fear, pulling them out of fire." The title is, "Get Involved."
It emphasizes the responsibility we have to go after someone we love who is taking the wrong step. That's a challenging reading because it makes the assumption one is able to discern the difference between right and wrong. It also makes the assumption that your relationship with a particular love one is strong enough that it can withstand the intrusion into another affairs.
I've lived long enough to accept both assumptions when it comes to the people I love. My circle of love is fairly expansive. I love my church members. I love my community members. I love my family members. That's a broad circle of love. In my interaction with each circle, I have leadership, teaching, modeling, and mentoring responsibilities. I love the give and take within each circle. I receive much more than I give. Why? Each interaction teaching me more about myself and my relationship to God. God is the driving force and the standards God sets establishes the bar for what is right and wrong. God also provides the mandate for me to activate this scripture as my responsibility to save my love ones from going the wrong way.
Within the church setting, the wrong way is when they are not deeping their relationship with God and being actively engaged in spreading God's word.
Within the community setting, the wrong way is when opportunities are being curtailed and safety is being compremised. It's when the aesthic fabric of the communtiy becomes frayed. It's when economic opportunity is derailed. It's when academic achievement is deferred. Unfortunately a community can too easily go in the wrong direction, largely by external forces that push it in that direction. To change the trajectory requires a full time commitment to service.
Within the family setting, its modeling the behavior of Christian love. It's also establishing a pattern that prayfully your love ones will seek to emulate. It's being in a real relationship with them so they fully understand that all you do is for their good.
Okay, make 2016 the year each of you get involved in the lives of people within the church, the community and your families so that none will go the wrong way in life, especially you.
|
0 comments