Working out Salvation with Fear and Trembling

Helping others, whether they be part of our families, part of our churches, or part of our communities is something that is sometimes very hard for us to do, but something that is incredibly important for us to pursue as Christians.

One of the many reasons I love our church so much is the fact that we care about others. I was so glad when I came to TBC and saw how we collected monies monthly in our Deacon’s Benevolent Offering to help meet the very real physical needs of people in our congregation and in the community at large. While we don’t always collect a large amount of money, the Lord often gives us resources to meet needs for people in our midst. Since I’ve been in Tunkhannock we’ve been able to reach out and meet various needs of people in our congregation for heating oil, groceries, transportation, and other such expenses. We’ve also been able to meet the needs of people in our community as well with things like rent, groceries, gasoline, and other things as well. You may wonder why we should help others with our resources. Let me help you consider a few reasons why.

The Image of God

All people are created in the image of God. In Genesis 1:26–27, we read, “Then God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.’ So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.”

Here we see that in creation, God made us to be like Him. We have rational thought; exercise decision making; have a spiritual capacity; carry out our responsibilities that God has mandated. All of these things place an intrinsic importance on humanity simply because they are made in God’s image. As much as you might like your dog, for instance, it is not a person and not made in the image of God.

Sometimes, we think we should only help people if we can see them get saved. This misses the point that we should care for people, not just to see them saved, but because they have intrinsic value to them; they are made in the image of God. So one of the reasons we collect monies to give out, is because people have value to God and should have value to us.

Do Good to All Men

Galatians 6:10 reads, “So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.” Paul here reminds us that when we sow good works, we will reap in season, and that therefore, we have an obligation to do good to all men. Paul qualifies that we should focus our attention on the church (the household of faith) but not just to the church but to all men. One of the ways we demonstrate the charity and mercy and love of Jesus in our lives and in our churches is to help all people when we are able. So, one of the things we do is to help people in need when we have the resources to do so. We may not always see a tangible result at first, but vs. 9 reminds us, that when we sow, we too will reap eventually.

This is all to say that we should remember that we are obligated to care for people because they have value to God since they were made in His image, and that when we have the chance we should do good to all men for when we sow good, we will reap good in the end. This is why we collect funds to be distributed by the deacons to minister to people in both our congregation and in our community. Who knows what benefit and blessing it may bring!