I know. It sounds rather “ambitious” to guarantee the well-being of 161 people. How can anyone guarantee the well-being of 161 people? What does it mean to guarantee the well-being of anyone? And what’s with “161 people”? And why “3 Christian men”? It all sounds oddly too specific and waaaaay too difficult.
I’m asking this outrageous question because when I talk about teams of men serving their widowed and single parents in their church I get this line all the time: “Our church is small and only has a handful of men in it. How can we possibly do any kind of significant men’s team ministry to their widowed and single parents in our church?”
You know what I say to that? “Baloney!”
If you have just three men in your church, then you have the opportunity to dramatically impact 161 people for good. Why? Because those 161 people represent the individuals your three men are responsible for. Here’s how I arrive at that figure.
Your three men are responsible for their immediate families.
Scripture: “Whoever does not provide for his relatives, especially for their own household, has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.” 1 Timothy 5:8
I’m going to use a hypothetical typical family of four: a husband and wife and their two children. So each of your three men are responsible for guaranteeing the well-being of three dependents, for a total of 9 people.
Your three men are responsible for meeting the pressing needs of anyone in their extended families.
Scripture: “Anyone who does not provide for his relatives…has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.” 1 Timothy 5:8
“Relatives” refers to parents, grand parents, siblings (and perhaps others), which easily ads up to ten people per man, for a total of 30 people.
Your three men are responsible for meeting the pressing needs of their widowed and single parents in your church.
Scripture: “If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person?” 1 John 3:17
Since we’re talking about a very small church, I’m going to limit the number here to two widowed and/or single parents.
Your three men are responsible for meeting the pressing needs of anyone living on their block.
Scripture: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Mark 12:31
For this example, I’m going to use the figure of twenty homes per block with two people per home. Your three men, then, are responsible for 120 people on their blocks.
The total number of people in these hypothetical examples is 161. Of course, this figure is wildly variable. But the point I’m making is that the total number of people any three men in any church are responsible for is huge.
By now you’re thinking, “Those poor three Christian men!”
But here’s how I look at it: “Those three Christian men are fortunate because they have the power of God at their disposal to meet the pressing needs of everyone in that group of 161 people.”
How do I know this? Because the Word of God explicitly says so:
“God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.” 2 Corinthians 9:8
God has promised those three Christian men everything they need to guarantee the well-being of those 161 people. But how?
Stay tuned. I’m going to discuss how in my next post.
This post first appeared in NewCommandment.org.
Learn how to meet every pressing need in your church here.
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Learn how to form teams of men for every widow, single mom
and fatherless child in your church at NewCommandment.org.
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