WW-U-D

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There’s another phrase that many of you may be familiar with and some, like me, will pretend they do when it’s brought up in conversation, then secretly google it on their phone.  The phrase is “incarnational ministry.”  For those of you who are as clueless with theological terms as I am, it really is about living the WWJD life.

We think we’ve got it right when we go to church each week, pay our tithe and live a good Christian life. But Jesus did so much more for us and expects so much more from us. He didn’t build His ministry around the temple but among the people. In fact, half the time Jesus was in the temple it did not go well (at least for the priests, anyway). His ministry was about intentionally going to where the need was; meeting people where they were at. He was not afraid to get alongside the rejected, hurting and outcast of the world.  

But how do we, in the busy life that we lead, find the time to do that?  

There’s the ad on TV at the moment targeting zero road deaths. During a short interview, a man is asked how many road deaths would be acceptable during a year.  He decides 70—and then his family come around the corner visually showing what 70 looks like. It quickly gets very real and emotional, and he amends his number to “0”. That got me thinking—what is an acceptable number of people who should be hurting? How many people should be feeling unloved or rejected? What is an acceptable number of people not to reach out to? I can’t help but think if we truly have Jesus’ love inside us, we couldn’t help but be His hands and feet. It won’t be “Oh . . . it’s just too hard to get started,” but “How could I ever stop?” 

Sometimes, if we’re honest with ourselves, our lack of reaching out to other people stems from a small (or large) superiority complex. We have this idea that people who are homeless, destitute or in real trouble have somehow done this to themselves. We, however, are not in that situation because we have made good choices and have been appropriately blessed because of it.  

Jesus came down to this Earth—from Heaven, no less—to reach all of us. Did you catch that? Jesus came from Heaven, where angels were worshipping and adoring Him. A perfect place beyond our wildest imaginations. And came to this sin-filled, hateful Earth. And to top that, He came to spend time with people considered to be the low-life scum of this world. He came to “seek and save the lost” (Luke 19:10). Any superiority complex we might have will quickly evaporate if we are going to follow in those footsteps.  

The bottom line is this: people want to be loved, for real. That’s what Jesus came to offer us, and that’s what we can offer too. 

Julie Catton lives in Melbourne, Victoria, and is a primary teacher who is currently enjoying staying at home with her children.