If there is one thing that I have learned from my last year at NPU, it is the importance of serving others. It all started last semester when I realized that in my busy life I rarely serve others. Luckily, Christian Spirituality forced me to join a Umin ministry and my life has never been the same. Without trying to become the next umin poster child, I have learned more about God by serving than from my entire life at church. This chapter reiterates a lot of what I have learned this year. As Christians we are called to give, whether it be time or money or a meal. Wilson-Hartgrove even touches on one of the biggest issues living in a big city: should I give money to the homeless man begging on the street when I can't be sure it's not being used for drugs or alcohol? W-H would say invite him over for a meal. While I believe that this is what Jesus would do, I always struggle with whether or not I would put that into practice.
I like when W-H says "...the church needs the poor as much as the poor needs the church." When the church fellowships with poor people, we can learn so much more about the mission of Jesus. We are not asked to give in order to fix the poor, but in order to be children of God. This is actually encouraging, because if we look at giving as a way to fix the poor it becomes so overwhelming and seems impossible. If we look at is as a characteristic of being a child of God, giving seems much less of a lost cause and becomes completely possible. This also gives us no way to throw out excuses for not giving; if we call ourselves "children of God" we must give.
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I think it is a tendency of mine and of many Christians to desire to fix the problems of this world. We see the injustices but become overwhelmed when we can't right them. Wilson-Hartgrove had a good answer for this helpless rut we get ourselves in. We are to just love everyone as a person created in the image of God. It is about love and grace. We are just as fallen as the next person and only through God's love for us are we forgiven. Only then can we give out of a heart of true compassion and empathy. It's hard to put into practice, but I found it to be a really exciting and helpful reminder.
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