“Our people must also learn to engage in good deeds to meet pressing needs, so that they will not be unfruitful.” Titus 3:14
Ignoring the pressing needs of fellow believers is a violation of the love of God
We are told in scripture that one of the worst things we can do as Christians is ignore the pressing needs of fellow believers. John writes in 1 John 3:17, “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?”
Clearly ignoring pressing needs in our churches is a denial of the efficacy of the love of Christ and a betrayal of our covenant relationship with each other.
And yet churches all over America are doing just that. I hear from widows and single mothers again and again that their church is completely oblivious to their need.
Ignoring the pressing needs of fellow believers will result in unfruitfulness
Their congregation assumes that just because they are showing up at church on a regular basis that therefore they must be okay. God can’t bless a church that ignores its own like that. Paul makes it clear in Titus 3:14 that the result of sweeping the needs of these dear people under the carpet results in “unfruitfulness.” I’m convinced that the reason the church is being marginalized in American culture is because of practices like this. What difference does the love of Christ make if it has no relevance to the neediest in our own churches?
Therefore, one of the most important things any church can do to rectify this situation is conduct a pressing needs audit. That means the church makes a concerted and continuous effort to list, prioritize and address any pressing needs in its midst.
Start by taking an inventory of the pressing needs of your church
The first thing to do is to simply go through your church rolls and look for people you think may have a pressing need. Usually, but not always, these people are going to be your widowed and single parents. Be generous here. Many people hide their feelings of neglect and abandonment by the church. So it’s important to list, not only people with obvious pressing needs, but people you think may have pressing needs.
Next, prioritize the pressing needs in your church.
The next step is to personally talk with each person on your list. You can do this casually at church or more formally with an in-home visit. You want to look for obvious pressing needs involving finances, home maintenance and health. But you also want to look for more hidden pressing needs, such as social isolation, depression and other emotional issues.
Once you go through your list of people with potential pressing needs, decide who on your list have genuine pressing needs and then prioritize them by severity. Who on your list needs immediate attention and whose need is not quite that severe?
Then address the pressing needs in your church
Now formulate a plan that consistently and effectively meets these needs. Be creative and ask the Lord for direction, remembering His promise in 2 Corinthians 9:8, “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.”
Of course, if your church would like some guidance in formulating a plan for meeting pressing needs, New Commandment is here to help. It has a free online training site called Meeting to Meet Needs that you can use to train your men to form teams to meet these needs.
When your church meets the pressing needs in its midst like this, it opens up the floodgates of God’s blessing and creates a new crowd of ardent supporters: your widowed and single parents.
This post first appeared in NewCommandment.org.
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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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