Six reasons to engage in the local community.
Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world
(James 1:27 NIV)
There is a growing awareness among the Christian community in Peterborough, the city where our local church is located, and this is largely a result of the effective work done by groups such as PC4SA (Peterborough Christians for Social Action), that believes Christians need to be serving along with Jesus in their local community.
Believers understand that the Gospel emphasises helping the poor and the marginalised, and speaking up for those who cannot speak for themselves (Luke 4:18; 15:1-2), but should Christians be involved in community issues? Here are 6 reasons why I believe Christians should:
Christians are naturally socially active people because the Lord Jesus Christ taught his disciples to love their neighbours as they love themselves (Mark 12:31). Without this teaching, history would never have known such names as Elizabeth Fry, William Booth, William Wilberforce, and many more.
- Jesus called his disciples ‘the salt of the earth’ (Matthew 5:13) and, as salt enhances the flavour of food, it also acts as a preserver, a cleanser and a healer. To be the ‘salt’ in the world, we must maintain that spiritual ‘saltiness’ so that the Holy Spirit, working in us, will inspire those same attributes to ‘flavour’ our good works (Titus 3:8; Acts 20:35).
- Jesus called his followers ‘the light of the world’, but a light hidden under a basket cannot illuminate anything. When we hide inside our churches and refuse to bring the light of the Gospel into the community, we are in danger of becoming spiritually bankrupt (James 2:26). It is the Holy Spirit who calls us to action and gives us boldness to engage in our communities, allowing the light of the Gospel to shine through us.
- We as Christians should be performing good works in our local communities because one of the reasons we have been united to Christ is for that very purpose (Ephesians 2:10). Serving in the community may take on different forms for different individuals because God has gifted us differently. However, our faith is revealed, not only through our words and preaching but through our acts of kindness, especially toward the poor and disadvantaged in society (James 2:14-17).
- Serving in the community as a witness to God and to the gospel is one way in which we bring glory to our heavenly Father (Matthew 5:16). The Gospel not only instructs us to be ‘zealous for good works’ (Titus 2:14 ESV), but the Holy Spirit has ‘equipped [us] for every good work’ (2 Timothy 3:17), so we are without excuse. Rather, knowing that we have been graced with both the desire and the means, as the writer of the letter to the Hebrews says: ‘…let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works’ (Hebrews 10:24).
- Serving in the community for Christians means that we are living our faith all of the time, not just at home or at our places of worship. For believers, witnessing for Jesus means that there is no point at which we switch off our ‘light’ or ‘rest’ from doing good works (1 Corinthians 15:58). As believers, we take the Holy Spirit with us wherever we go (1 Corinthians 6:19–20) and, where we have opportunities for service, God expects us to be the ‘salt’ and ‘light’ in our local communities.
Prayer
Dear Father, help us to grow in the grace and knowledge of your Son, Jesus, to join with him, and with fellow believers, in the work of reconciliation that he is already doing in our local community, as your Holy Spirit leads and empowers us. Amen
Study by Richard Dempsey
This study is adapted from an article that first appeared in Across Peterborough Magazine, September 2023: https://www.acrosspeterborough.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Across-Peterborough_Magazine-September-2023.pdf
Richard Dempsey is a Minister in the Peterborough congregation of Grace Communion International.
Local congregation:
Grace Communion Peterborough
Farcet Village Hall
Main Street
Farcet
Peterborough
PE7 3AN
Meeting time:
Sunday 10.30 am
Local congregational contact:
Simon Williams
Email: simon.williams@gracecom.church
Local church website: www.peterboroughchurch.org
Word of Life contact:
wordoflife@gracecom.church