See vs. Seek
"But whoever has this world's goods, and sees his brother in need, and shuts
up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him?" (1 John 3:17)
That's not rocket science, obviously when we see someone in need, true love
responds to it; but I have to admit, I can't think of anything in the Bible that
tells us to go looking for people in need! We are to help them when we SEE
a need. As far as I know, we are not commanded to go out and SEEK out
physical needs to meet.
Believe me, I know it's difficult enough to keep your own family going
and maybe help those you run into, much less run around looking for needs!
Some people have the resources to do that, but most do not.
Why have a network?
So why have a network like this, why not just keep your eyes open and respond
as you see the needs? Of course, we should do that, but there are 4 reasons this
network is needed.
- To find the unseen isolated and lonely people, the widowed, poor, broken
and neglected; to find and help those needs we do not normally see in our
busy lives.
- We often do not have the means to help everyone we see, yet combining
the resources and strength of neighbors allows those needs to be met.
- God DOES command Christians to go out and actively invite people to come
to a dinner party He is throwing, which is coming up soon (Luke 14:15-24).
And IF we start obeying that command, we will meet our neighbors and we will
begin to see the needs. Then we will need each other's help to meet those
needs.
- Related to meeting unseen needs is the too often ignored needs of
exploited women and children, a problem that has become epidemic, even in
America. Injustice
runs rampant in our society. Systematically reaching everyone will also get
the word out on these important issues whether or not the neighbor
participates in the other aspects of the network.
The LYNC Network gives you a tool and a structure to facilitate outlets to serve, to truly love and care, and it
also gives the Christian a way to reach out and invite people to that dinner
party that still has a lot of empty seats.
Choose your response: