What’s Does My Side Look Like?

Ken Boa, my Friday morning Bible teacher, loves to knit together compelling biblical wisdom that keeps me on God’s pathway of life. Well, most of the time, anyway! Boa’s encouragement is always concise and extracted from the pages of Scripture. Like the themes of Trust in the Father, Abide in the Son, and Walk by the Spirit.

Trusting in the Father . . . and Abiding in Jesus comes easier to me than my day-to-day Walk . . . which, of course, is noticeably more visible to my family, friends and community. James, the brother of Jesus and an early leader in the Jerusalem church plainly tells us that our faith AND our deeds characterize our Walk! He writes, “If one of you says to the poor, ‘Go in peace, keep warm and be well fed!’ . . . but does nothing, what good is it? Faith, if not accompanied by action, is dead” (James 2:16-17).

Divine Guidance in our Walk is not something mysterious, says J.I. Packer in his 30-year-old classic, Knowing God. Rather, “it’s built upon our spiritual convictions, attitudes, ideals, and inward promptings.” Packer also tells us that our Walk by the Spirit should always honor and magnify God’s Word. And therein lies a primary role of God’s Spirit; he provides the “prompts” and Divine Guidance to help us Walk our biblical talk!

But vital Divine Guidance is threatened every day by our free-will choice; are we willing or unwilling to respond to the prompts? An unwilling heart wastes no time grabbing our compass of life and steering us into a ditch.

No doubt Tim Keller, New York City’s iconic pastor prospered from Packer’s wisdom; their lives overlapped. But Keller zeroed in on “why” unwilling creeps into our spiritual vocabulary. “Contemporary people,” says Keller, “tend to examine the Bible looking for things they can’t accept. But Christians should reverse that, allowing the Bible to examine us, looking for things God can’t accept.”

But there’s an interesting nuance in Keller’s verdict! His focus is not unfaithful marriage partners . . . or thieves, murderers or other dreadful choices. Rather, Keller is targeting the lack of engagement of Christians with their underprivileged neighbors down the street and around the world. Those are ALSO things that God can’t accept!

Think about it. In lambasting the Pharisees for their treatment of the oppressed, widows, the fatherless, and the sojourner, Jesus took his cue from rock-solid OT themes of justice and compassion (e.g., Deut. 10:18; Jer. 22:3; Zech. 7:10). His finding, “They [Pharisees] neglect justice and the love of God” (Luke 11:42).

Fast forward! Today, multitudes of Christ followers are wrestling with a Comfort Crisis; a profound reluctance to invest in the lives around them because it’s often inconvenient, messy, requires intentionality, and takes them away from favored leisure pursuits! Keller labels this malaise as a stark unwillingness to build genuine Christian community.

Jesus will always be the champion of the poor! But perhaps surprisingly, he isn’t overly critical of the rich—unless they fail to engage with the poor and oppressed. Yes, there are biblical texts that call for justice for the wealthy, says Keller, “but they’re outnumbered a hundred to one by the mandate to render justice to the poor.” Keller then follows with a knockout punch. “Showing practical concern for the poor doesn’t grant you spiritual life. But it may prove your faith isn’t a corpse.”

How might the roots of your willingness take hold? “A Christian should remember,” says Keller, “that everything we possess is a gift from a generous God who calls us to deploy his gifts with sacrificial love, for the benefit of others.” Here are some practical ideas. And don’t worry about making a big spiritual splash. Just get in the water!

• Learn the needs of your community and the demographics driving those needs. Your church can help you decide where to invest.
• Pray about where your God-given gifts and abilities match local needs.
• Volunteer in an after-school mentoring program.
• Help Coach a community athletic program.
• Assist a local non-profit that is understaffed.
• Support financially the work of a missionary or a local/international relief agency.
• Prayer-walk your neighborhood and start a local Bible study! That’s exactly what my wife Jan, did in 1999! Then, she found three willing women. Today, 26 years later, 35-40 women meet in two homes in our neighborhood every Friday morning. Interested? Here’s How to Begin.

Tom 

“From time to time, those who owned land or houses sold them . . . and put [the money] at the apostle’s feet, and it was distributed to anyone who had need” (Acts 4:34).

**References to Tim Keller taken from Tim Keller on the Christian Life, by Matt Smethurst, Crossway Books, Wheaton, Illinois 2025**