Benefit the world around you
God has placed you in your city, nation and culture for a reason. Don't retreat into your holy huddle. Find how God wants to use you to serve and benefit the city, nation and culture you are in.
Benefit the world around you
This was a shocking writing. “How can we go and settle in? How can we seek the welfare of this city? How can we pray to God on its behalf?
Their mindset was “We are God’s people set apart from all the evil nations around us. If we are set apart, we cannot be inside…and we certainly cannot serve and benefit them! And we will only be there a couple of years, what’s the point?”
Churches today fall into this same mindset…
We are only here for a short time.
We are only here for Church and Christians.
We are set apart and holy, which means we must be completely separate from the world.
God will rescue us from this evil world.
God wants you to serve and benefit your city, nation and culture. Pray for them to thrive. When your community thrives, you thrive.
People will tell you to not engage. Or to yell and scream. Or to condemn the evil to hell. But God wants something different.
Instead, God puts himself and his Kingdom values inside of you so that his Kingdom impacts the world around you.
Hearing & Following Jesus means we live out the Kingdom Values found in the beatitudes.
Then the Kingdom Values become salt and light to a dark world.
Salt preserves decay. God will use you to preserve others from the decay caused by sin.
Light penetrates the darkness. God will use you to shine the Light of God into others’ lives in a way that is beautiful and leads them to want God.
Everyone wants to be treated according to the Kingdom Values. They think you are weird for living that way, but like it when you treat them that way.
God wants you to serve and benefit so that he can use you to preserve decay and penetrate the darkness.
Food for thought…
What has God burdened you with for the city, nation and culture around you?
Jesus prayed for you to be sent into the world. Ask Jesus how he wants for you to be sent out into the world.
How can you lead your church to be burdened for the city, nation and culture around you?