FRIDAY - 7TH JUNE, 2024
MORNING WINGS DAILY DEVOTIONAL - Olusola ADEJUMO
REFORMING THE SOCIETY THROUGH SOCIAL ORGANIZATIONS
Matthew 25:35-36, KJV
"35 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: 36 Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me."
In a state (nation) where the religion is separated from the government, it might be difficult penetrating the many institutions that make up such country if you don't know how. While I was growing up, I thought or believed that people who engaged in social works instead of the outright religious activities we do in church wherewithal we minister to people are doing lesser. I never knew that that's a strong ministry and could be an extension of the church to even reach the unreached, especially those that the law of the land would have cut off from being outrightly ministered to by religious names or institutions.
For instance, there are students to influence but you can't just go to a state school to begin to preach Jesus to their faces. You'd be arrested for that as religion is separated from the state. That's how it is in many countries. So, what to do is to register a social organization - a Non Governmental Organization (NGO), brand it with some underlying Christian values (that doesn't look Christian or religious) and go into such institutions own by government that you want to reach. Since you're registered and covered by law as a social organization and not a religious body, you'll be accepted and welcomed.
There and then, you can influence them with your Christian beliefs, values, doctrines etc without referring to the Bible or mentioning Jesus. For instance, a typical social organization to schools might want to enhance the moral life of students. It might want to educate them on obedience to parents, purity and virginity, virtue of hard work amidst others. All these that I've listed for instance are virtues that are very much rooted in the Bible. Since it's a problem they have you want to solve, what matters is looking for how to solve it without offending or abhorring the authority. Or else, the door might be slammed at you. Without quoting any Bible verse, I can quote philosophers who support being morally upright. You can go further to use instances in nature and of those in our present world which support respect to those with oversight over us. However, as a Christian organization disguising as a social one or one with a social arm, you must have done all spiritual activities possible that God would touch their lives and have them changed. Even if you can't preach Christ to them but could have them persuaded to live a morally upright life, we'll still be able to lead a quiet and peaceable life here on earth by that. Only that they'll need to receive Jesus for their eternal security.
Jesus while speaking says, "while I was sick, naked, imprisoned etc, you didn't check on me." Then, He commended some other people for having done otherwise. Those two sets of people looked dazed as to when Jesus was in those conditions. He rather says, "as long as you have done it to the least of these people, you have done it to me." Here, we're seeing that Jesus isn't against social organizations, physical ministrations and reaching of the vulnerable, orphans, widows, prisoners or the sick. The church knows this and sincerely has been doing it. Meanwhile, we need to penetrate more. We need to know that we've been given a ministry to take every mountain for Jesus. By our practical acts, we can show love, spread joy and meet physical needs of people until they ask who these are. A show of love would win faster than mere words without corresponding actions.
Social organizations or NGO aren't wrong to found. They could be expressions of some other ministries to the less privileged. In that manner, we'll be reaching our world for Christ by stealth where there are prohibitions on religious manifestations in state owned institutions which may include orphanages, correctional centres, prisons, hospitals etc. May God fill us with compassion for our fellow humans as we do all to give hands to them. This way, we'll be meeting the needs in our society and creating a better one even as we minister to their physical immediate needs.
PRAYER: Lord, help us to know the way of practical ministration to the needy. Teach us stealth in ministration.
BIBLE IN A YEAR: 2 Samuel 15:23-16:23, John 18:25-19:22, Psalm 119:113-128, Proverbs 16:10-11
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