Often I'm asked for my biblical perspective on why we do what we do. The first part of our mission statement, loving our neighbor, equipping for life, comes straight from the Great Commandment found in Matthew 22. That part is fairly straight forward and can be found at most any church or non profit that sees themselves as a ministry. The question then becomes, who will we go to? What exact neighbor are we focusing on. With so much need around us, how do we decide where our focus will be.
First of all, we try to focus on areas that either have no ministries addressing their needs or are significantly underserved. In Romans 15:20 Paul says, "My aim is to preach the gospel where Christ has not been named, so that I will not build on someone else’s foundation." With so many doing so much, we don't want to duplicate services or put ourselves in any type of competition with another organization loving people in Jesus name. The ministries we have at Mission Amarillo have the intent to love people who have no support system and not only communicate the gospel with our words, but to show them the love of Jesus through our actions, doing things we believe Jesus would do. We want to live out His kingdom here on earth, making disciples by showing people what it looks like to follow Jesus.
So, what is our biblical basis for focusing on those who are less fortunate and have no support system? To start off, we look at Luke 4. Jesus has just spent 40 days fasting in the desert and being temped by the devil. After passing this test, in verse 16 we see him in his home synagogue in Nazareth. He is asked to read the scripture and he reads from Isaiah 61:1-2 which says, "the Spirit of the Lord God is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to heal[a] the broken hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and freedom to the prisoners;2 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor." He then closes the scroll and tells the congregation, “Today as you listen, this Scripture has been fulfilled.” v. 21. So Jesus announces he is the Messiah by saying the poor, the outcast, and broken hearted will be minister to. Don't miss the significance of that statement. Jesus is God. He could have used any scripture to announce Who he was but he chose this scripture. By doing so, he shows the significance and priority of ministry to the outcasts and broken hearted in our community.
Now let's jump to Luke 7. Starting in v. 18, we find John the Baptist in prison, probably knowing his time on earth was drawing to a close. He sends his disciples to Jesus to ask him a question, "Are you the one who is to come or should we expect someone else." Jesus' response was incredible starting in v. 22, “Go and report to John what you have seen and heard: The blind receive their sight, the lame walk, those with leprosy[d] are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor are told the good news, 23 and blessed is the one who isn’t offended by me.” So, Jesus confirms he's the Messiah by saying showing how the poor, outcast, and broken hearted are receiving ministry. Again, he could have pointed to anything else he wanted to make this claim and yet chose to focus on how the less fortunate were receiving ministry. Once again, Jesus shows the significance and priority of ministry to those that are disadvantaged.
Then in Matthew 25, Jesus gives his only description of the Judgement Day. The King separates people and then tells some to come into His glory for this reason:
35 “‘For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat; I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink; I was a stranger and you took me in; 36 I was naked and you clothed me; I was sick and you took care of me; I was in prison and you visited me.’
37 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and take you in, or without clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick, or in prison, and visit you?’
40 “And the King will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’
So Jesus bases his sole description of the judgement on how the poor and outcast were treated. He goes on to condemn those who had not treated those mentioned above in the manner he described. Once again, Jesus shows the priority and significance of ministry to poor and broken hearted. This is an incredible scripture we all should keep in mind.
Last of all, Jesus says something very profound to the Pharisees two chapters before this in Matthew 23. He condemns the Pharisees and goes so far to call them hypocrites and blind guides! Look at verses 23-24 and notice what he says at the end of verse 23:
23 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You pay a tenth of[a] mint, dill, and cumin, and yet you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy, and faithfulness.[b] These things should have been done without neglecting the others. 24 Blind guides! You strain out a gnat, but gulp down a camel!
He describes the more important matters of the law as justice, mercy, and faithfulness. Given the previous scriptures, justice and mercy seem pretty obvious priorities in God's Kingdom.....but why did he mention faithfulness? What is he trying to tell us? I believe he's trying to point out that we need to be faithful not to every jot and tittle of the law but, as we live this life, we are to show faithfulness to the heart of God revealed in scripture. While he wants everyone to come to repentance, he especially wants his followers to show mercy and justice for the less fortunate in our community. It's incredibly important to our savior that we show those who feel forgotten and alone the love he has for them.
At Mission Amarillo, we attempt to show God's heart for those without a support system, for those who feel alone, by loving our refugee community through getting their kids ready for school. Our ParentChild+ program consists 100% of refugees who desire nothing more than to acclimate to American culture and do well here. By going into their homes and helping them navigate the expectations of our school system, we are showing them God hasn't forgotten them and wants them to thrive here. Through our Be-Loved program, we give a support system to young moms who have nowhere to turn. We come along side them, assign them a mentor who will walk with them each day, and help them to become the moms their children need them to be. Through 365 Dad, we help dads in crisis address the scars of their past that have caused them so much heartache and in some cases, have caused them problems with the law. We teach them how to acknowledge and address those scars to become the best dads they can be and to help their children not repeat the generational curses that were inflicted upon them. Through our shoe closet, we help the truly helpless, children who have nothing to do with the situations they were born into, by giving them a new or nearly new pair of shoes that help them know God has not forgotten them. The shoe closet also empowers the counselors and social workers who love these kids by giving them a resource they can use to meet these children's needs.
So when you think of Mission Amarillo, I hope you think of a ministry that wants nothing more than to show the outcast, the broken hearted, and those that may feel abandoned that God not only loves them, but has sent them people who want to show them what he is really like. We may fall short in our efforts, but it will always be our priority to love them and show them Jesus. If for no other reason than he has made those who are hurting most his priority.
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