if you love God, you love His people

November 30, 2004

"and He has given us this command: whoever loves God must also love his brother." - 1 john 4:12 [NIV]

for a while, i've been wondering why i'm so onboard with social justice. i wonder why every time i read an article about the amount of poverty and social injustice in toronto, my heart breaks and at the same time, gets angered at the lack of action. and then, one day it hits me. "if you love God, you love His people." it was as simple as that. that's a phrase i've heard time and time again, and yet while i've understood that, i don't think i really experienced what it meant, until recently.

i've been reading the paper every morning, checking out what the issues are in toronto on a day-to-day basis. in addition, i've been researching about the working poor (for my newsletter). i've also been talking to jer a lot about different social issues like education, child care and affordable housing. and knowing what i know now, though extremely small, i cannot sit idly by and stay apathetic. my heart breaks every time i read a story about another working person who lives on the street because there's no affordable housing or that the line up for affordable housing continues to grow, now at about 65,000 people. i get angered when i read that the ontario government cancelled all social housing programs in the 1990s and is not interested in tapping in to the $384 million that the federal government granted for such a purpose.

God's heart beats for everyone on planet earth. that includes those we often forget about, those that society doesn't care about, those that have been dealt a tough hand and are faced to deal with it on their own. and as Christians, are we the ones actively helping to change those injustices or do we simply act as anyone else would, apathetic?

we live our lives in extraordinary comfort and relative ease and hardly think about our fellow neighbour. yes, part of this is because of our own ignorance. part of it is because we're lazy. and part of it is because we simply don't care enough, or may i suggest that we do not love God enough? it's a tough question to swallow, and i am in no way exempt from it. because while i'm so onboard with getting awareness out and getting people involved, i have yet to do so myself. no time i say, i'm too busy managing myself, school and church. i wish i had more time in the day to be able to volunteer and make a difference in the community. that's my heartbeat. i just hope and pray that through my church fellowship (SALT), we'll be able to accomplish that.

all this may sound very negative, but there is hope. i believe God is stirring in this generation to care more about social justice. i've been hearing that campus and church groups have been more active in learning about social justice and even volunteering down at shelters, food banks, etc. it's exciting! i hope that through more awareness, the church will become what it's meant to be. a lighthouse to the community. a place where social action is just as common as a sunday morning sermon. a place that is buzzing with people expressing their gratitudes to the Lord with an overabundance of joy. and all that happening because of the church's demonstration of Christ's love through action. this isn't some idealistic dream. it's possible, friends. the early church modelled it in acts 2:44-47 [NIV], "all the believers were together and had everything in common. selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. they broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. and the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved."

that's the dream. that's the hope. amen.

Posted by Leo Chan at November 30, 2004 5:39 PM