Last time I said we have a standing invitation from Jesus to journey with him in building the kingdom – right here and right now.
Building a kingdom sounds like a big task. And I think that’s where we miss the whole point. Because if the job is beyond us, beyond our capabilities, then we have an excuse to give up. An excuse to wait for him to come back and make everything right again.
But Jesus didn’t intend for us to take on the whole job. Before he left, in his final words to his closest friends, he was pretty clear about the nature of the journey.
“Love one another.”
That simple, and that frustratingly difficult.
He didn’t tell his friends to go out and fix the world. He told them to love.
And we know, of course, that they changed the world simply by doing what he asked. Unselfish, sacrificial love, one person at a time.
I know I’ve said this before, but it’s worth reminding ourselves – this is the reason we chose to support one safe house and one group of 22 kids.
We can’t fix human trafficking, but we can love and support these kids, one at a time. We can do our best to provide for their needs so they can grow into the young men and women God intended.
However – it’s still tempting to use our support of these 22 kids as an excuse. I’m doing all I can for them… that’s enough, right?
Seeking justice for our 22 kids does not absolve me from the responsibility to love the irritating person. The guy with different political opinions. The annoying neighbor.
If I do good things, but fail to love, I’m just making noise.