The Hardest Work You’ll Ever Love

I have often joked and laughed about the three rules of a handyman. First is to contemplate what to do. Then you contemplate on how to do it. And finally, you just contemplate.

How many times have you followed those three rules without even realizing it? There are many times I have projects I either really don’t know how to do, or I’m just trying to think through the best way to do it. Or it’s a really hard or dirty job and I don’t want to do it, so I keep putting it off.

Yet there is something completely different when it comes to serving through the Kentucky Baptist Disaster Relief ministry. It is interesting how we will go places, serve with people we’ve never met, and sleep in strange places on cots or air mattresses. We will also go into homes which have been destroyed by water and mud (which is a smell all its own), dangers we would typically avoid, and work harder and longer than we ever would at home. But we love it.

It is the hardest work you’ll ever love.

This work doesn’t make sense to most people. And honestly, sometimes it doesn’t make sense to me. So, I began to ask, “why is this?” And I was reminded of several things.

It is a motivation from God.
It is an obedience thing. As I look through Scripture, God is always using someone to care for others. God can meet needs by the very words of His mouth. But He chooses to use people to love and care for people. So, God calls His people. He stirs in the hearts of His people. And we respond to His call. We bring help.

It is a model of Jesus Christ
The main reason I am so passionate about the disaster relief ministry is how it models the ministry of Jesus Christ when He walked this earth. He saw a need. He compassionately did something to meet the need. And He had opportunity to tell them about the hope they can have through Him. Disaster relief does the same thing. People have a physical need. We see their need. We are moved with compassion to meet their need, and it opens the door for gospel conversations. We bring hope.

It is a ministry of compassion
When you see people hurting who have lost everything, they don’t know what to do. Their physical world had been destroyed, and it leaves them emotionally and spiritually numb. We can come alongside those who are hurting and care for them. Listen to them. Spend time with them. Hear their stories and let them grieve and we often cry with them. We bring healing.

It is a mission of the Church
The Great Commission commands the church (us) to go into all the world. It does not tell us to proclaim the world come to us, rather we are to go to them. I have seen many people get out of the pew and into the field through disaster relief.

The beauty of all of this is it requires people of all skill sets. This ministry requires good leaders, those who can manage people, assign work projects, and oversee a specific area. It requires those with good organizational skills. Those who can cook (we love our cooks!). Those who have good mechanical skills for set up of equipment, repairs, and resources. Those who do not mind getting dirty and willing to work hard. Those who have the gift of evangelism. Those who just want to serve. And the list goes on. God has a place for anyone He calls.

It is an evangelistic opportunity
Evangelism and missions always go together. You cannot be on mission without a focus on evangelism, otherwise why do it? You cannot evangelize without being on mission because that is the calling and purpose. Jesus said He came to this earth to seek and to save (evangelize). Yet, when you look at His method, He was on mission as He cared for those who were hurting. He met their physical need and sought to meet their spiritual need.

It IS the hardest work you will ever love.

You can learn more about the Kentucky Disaster Relief ministry at www.kybaptist.org/dr. Also visit www.kybaptist.org/flood to learn of opportunities to serve in eastern Kentucky with the flood response and rebuild.





More Than Optimism

The time has finally arrived. The long drought is almost over.  Fall is just around the corner.  In fact, you can almost feel it in the air as the temperature and humidity have dropped in recent days.  No, I am not referring to the arrival of pumpkin spice latte or even pumpkin bread or pumpkin pie (though either of those latter two are welcome). 

As always, at this time of year, fans of college football are optimistic, as they envision their favorite team’s mission to accomplish a championship season.  Tennessee Vol fans are no different.  I know, I know.  I live in Wildcat and even Cardinal country, but Vol fans are everywhere.  And we are optimistic, perhaps more than we have been in a long time.

I realize that this is where Bama and even Bulldog fans (sorry but I am unbiased that the SEC is the best conference in college football) begin to laugh at my optimism.  But lest these two and other teams forget, TN has been a top-tier SEC football program for a long time.  I realize it’s been a minute since that were so, but as the saying goes, “There is always next year.”  Well, next year has arrived with the kick-off of college football unofficially this weekend and officially next weekend.

I do realize that my optimism has been unrealized for more than a dozen years now.  Yet, I am (pretty) confident that the tide is changing.  While it’s always fun to dream and talk about how “next year” is going to be the turnaround we have been waiting for, when it comes to God’s mission I do not rest in a kind-of-confidence, but in a certain expectation.

Unlike the success of our favorite college football team, the success of God’s mission is not a whimsical wish.  We are not hoping that circumstances will change, and our team will accomplish the unimaginable against all odds.  Rather, we know that God wins, and His mission will not be thwarted.  

We have read the end of the story.  John the revelator describes the victory of God in Revelation 7:9: “After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could count, from every nation and all tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb clothed in white robes, and palm branches were in their hands, and they cry out with a loud voice, saying, ‘Salvation to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.’”

God wins.  What is amazing is that God uses His people to accomplish His mission through the church, the mission to make disciples of all nations (Matt 28:16-20).  No need to speculate; no need to predict what will happen.  God’s mission is certain.  How will God use your church to accomplish His certain victory?  The Missions Mobilization Team is ready to help your church discover how to join in God’s victory to make disciples of all nations. And that is no mere speculation or wishful optimism!

Both…And!

I had the opportunity last week to spend several days in eastern Kentucky alongside disaster relief volunteers who were providing help, hope and healing following historic flooding in thirteen counties.  I saw families who had lost everything, literally everything except the clothes on their backs. Homes were washed down river, cars destroyed, personal possessions lost, and everything left behind covered in mud.  Flood insurance is almost non-existent, and families are overwhelmed and uncertain what to do next.  The question was raised in a discussion with someone who had come to help, “are we here to help them recover from the flood or share the gospel?”  The answer is Yes! 

Caring for the needs of others is not an option for Christ followers. Jesus demonstrated this by healing the sick, feeding the hungry, casting out demons and raising the dead. If we are going to identify with Him, then we too, must love our neighbors and help those in need.    

However, preaching the gospel is not an option either.  Jesus said I was sent to preach the kingdom of God to others. We too, have an obligation to preach the gospel (1 Corinthians 9:16). Furthermore, those who are lost can’t believe and call upon Christ to be saved unless they hear the gospel preached (Romans 10:14). 

So, which was more important to Jesus, caring for the needs of others or preaching the gospel?  I don’t know that he had a preference.  We find that Jesus preached and cared for others everywhere he went.  Every time Jesus sent out the disciples, He commanded them to take care of the needy as they preached the gospel.

We understand from scripture that after Jesus’ return to heaven, the disciples followed His example of simultaneously preaching and caring for others.  We observe in the life of Jesus and the disciples, that caring for hurting people provides opportunities for preaching the gospel. Jesus didn’t send some of us to preach and others to do disaster relief or community service. 

Helping mud out a flooded home is complimentary to sharing the gospel.  Blending the feeding of a family in a shelter with telling them about Jesus is God-honoring.  Providing a place to shower or do laundry can easily be mixed with listening to others and sharing how we’ve found hope in Christ.

A healthy balance between meeting needs and preaching the gospel can be so effective in reaching the lost.  Success of this approach is evidenced in the sixty-four (64) lives that have come to faith in Christ because of the flood recovery efforts in eastern Kentucky in the last several weeks.

Remember the question that prompted this post – “are we here to help them recover from the flood or share the gospel?”  I’m not saying that caring for the needy is equal to sharing the gospel.  But both are important because they are expected of Christ followers.  They are two sides of the same coin and there will certainly be synergy and life transformation when we do both together, just as Jesus did.