Meeting Needs

“Share with the Lord’s people who are in need.  Practice hospitality.” (Romans 12:13 NIV)

Shortly after we arrived in Oklahoma for our Spring Break trip, I overheard a conversation between a leader of the ministry with which we were serving and one of her interns.  The young woman was seeking to find a way back to Atlanta and they were discussing flight possibilities.  We had an extra seat in our van so I said we could take her to Knoxville if she could find a ride the rest of the way.  She didn’t respond.

Several days later, I asked her if she was going to ride back with us.  She said, “Were you really serious?  I thought you were joking!”  I assured her that I was really serious about my offer and, by the end of our week there, she had decided to accept it.  As we had a sharing time on the way home about our experiences during the week, she told about how the Lord had spoken to her through my offer of a ride and how it helped confirm His desire for her to return to Atlanta.  However, what struck me was her surprise that brothers and sisters, though strangers, would offer to help her.  She was truly amazed, which I found somewhat sad.

One of the great witnesses of the early church was its willingness to meet the needs of fellow believers.  Acts 4 says believers shared everything in common and that many sold their possessions in order to provide for others in need.  Paul refers many times to those who helped him along his missionary journeys, providing both money and places to stay.  Meeting needs was a primary attribute of the early church.  

So I found it sad when this young woman seemed so shocked by our generosity toward her.  Before we parted, I told her that meeting the needs of brothers and sisters is what the Church is to do.  She said that had not been her experience, which made me even more sad.  She had grown up in a single-parent family, which had a lot of needs.  From her experience, the church didn’t care much.

Unfortunately, I think this an all too common experience that brings shame and dishonor to the Lord.  We as a body are too caught up in our own concerns and agendas, and have lost sight of the simple commands of this passage.  Today, ask the Lord to give you a heart to help people in need and to practice hospitality.  Meeting needs was a defining attribute of the early church.  It still should be today.

© Jim Musser 2013