Hopefully by now we’ve all recovered from all of the eating we’ve done
over the past few weeks between Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years. Usually a few days after eating
“holiday food” during Thanksgiving and Christmas I am just ready to go and get
some fast food from somewhere. Give me a cheeseburger! This time of the year is unique in that we
eat certain foods and amounts of certain foods only at this time of the year. But after a while, we get tired of it and
just want a sense of normalcy. We want
to just eat the kinds and amounts of food we are used to eating. We want the
living room back to how it usually is decorated and all the furniture in the
right place. And if we’re honest, we want it just to be our family again. We
have people overload and just want it quiet and calm and normal.
Likewise, from a ministry perspective this time of year gives a local church unique once in a year opportunities to reach out to our community with the Good News of the Gospel. Both
the kinds of outreaches we do and the “amount” of outreaches we do intensify
during this season of the year.
However, there’s a difference in the feasting on ministry and outreach
that we do that is unique to this time of year as opposed to the feasting we do
on food and other unique aspects of the Holiday Season. The Thanksgiving and Christmas food along
with the decorations, presents, as well as the family and friends we spend time
with are all not the norm. We only do this once a year. And then we return to
normalcy. And when it comes to the
ministry opportunities we engage in over these months, there is sometimes a
sense when January 1st rolls around of, “Glad that’s behind us, now
things can get back to normal.” But
what if that is the “normal” for the local church and Christians. Is it possible that what’s abnormal are the
other eleven months of the year where we don’t put in the same intentional
effort in prayer, giving, sharing, planning, sacrificing to reach our community
and the world with the Gospel?
Maybe as we approach a new year and make new resolutions that one of
the ones we need to make, maybe the most important one as a local church, is a
commitment to a “new normal” when it comes to ministry and outreach to lost
people. Paul writes in 1 Timothy 1:15,
“The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus
came into the world to save sinners…” Christmas is about Jesus coming to save
sinners, but He didn’t just come to save sinners for the month of
December. Therefore, throughout the
entire year, every month and every day of our lives, let us live and love, give and go like Jesus
came to save sinners and intentionally
pray and work to join Jesus in pursuing sinners in need of a Savior.
