Why are we Christians so spiritually uncoordinated? We just can’t seem to “walk and chew gum at the same time!” It seems that we are either totally sold out on the personal gospel of having a relationship with God and think “justice and mercy” is something completely radical, or we are Christians who only want to think about justice and mercy, with none of this “pious nonsense” or we limit it to the Sunday morning worship service.
This spiritual division has been puzzling me for some time now, but I have to admit that a few years ago, after immersing myself in my growing concern for social justice that I had begun to find myself a bit off balance. I wasn’t as keen to listen to praise music as I previously had. That realization concerned me enough that I started to pray about it and found I could actually learn to “walk and chew gum at the same time.” In other words, I nurtured and regained my love of praising God with time spent in prayer and Bible study, while also still passionate about increasing our commitment to justice and mercy.
We need the whole gospel! That is what Jesus taught. He said, “Take up your cross and follow me!” a very personal invitation and commitment, while spending whole nights in prayer and communion with His Heavenly Father. However, Jesus also associated with sinners and outcasts and stressed giving to the poor. He warned us about the love of money, power and prestige and He told the religious people that they were neglecting the “weightier” matters of justice and mercy.
Can we work at putting these two Christian emphases together in our walk with God?Let’s follow Jesus as people of prayer and praise, as well as people with a deep, active compassion for the less fortunate!