What Does it Mean to Care?
By Rev. Jacqueline T. King
Church Planter @ Gears Road – Houston, TX

What does it mean to care?  Playing games all day and then eating ice cream for dinner might be answers shared from a small child.  Talking all night might be a thought from a teenager with a brand new cell phone.  Getting a gift from a famous talk show host might be the answer from a person living nearby.  Plain and simple, caring means giving and receiving love to one another.  Caring is offering love without strings attached.

Care is exhibiting concern, love and compassion for God, others and self.  Caring in ministry outreach signifies to the community that God’s presence reaches beyond the physical church building and His love touches hearts beyond the Sunday Worship.  Ministry is a living state of relationship development between God, believers in Christ and non-believers.  It increasingly works on the hearts of believers to pray for the move of God to take root upon the hearts of non-believers for a change in their belief system.  It is this type of love that God speaks of in I John 4: 7-21 that makes Christians take mighty moves of service in the community as an extension of God’s love.  This love is my foundation for caring.  I John 4: 12 says, “No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.”  Hence, caring is my living testimony of God’s love and service is the actions taken that help express that love.
The walls of the sanctuary were designed to represent a dwelling place where His children could give praise to Him.  However, the community is a place where the reflection of His works may be seen.  If His children are not working to help save other children, then the light of hope is very dim.  However, if ministry is operating as a “saving station” for souls and the community is a place where wholeness, salvation and spiritual wellness is the living mission of His church, then the “Great Commission” is being fulfilled.  It is then that ministry reflects itself as an extension of a community that is fulfilling His salvation plan for all of His children. 
This journey is greater than buildings and denominations; it’s about walking out God’s plans and inviting others to know Jesus because His grace is sufficient to save them, too.  These plans represent God’s dynamic move of caring, healing and restoring lives that makes ministering in the 21st century church a special experience for church and community members, along with lay and clergy leadership.

Ministry as a witness to the world is larger than symbolic representation of Jesus and the Cross.  Regardless of the church’s vision of Christ, it is important to recognize that some segments of humanity may see the manifestation of Christ through the actions of drivers with flashy bumper stickers and recite scripture by cute “jingles” that have a unforgettable beat.  As the body of Christ, our need to reflect God’s truth should be greater than our desire to be judgmental.  This witness of hope operates through service and grows through a shared understanding of the Church’s mission. 
Colossians 1: 19-26 directs reconciliation of non-believers unto God through the church.  He wants all His children to reunite with the Body and receive His saving grace.  Therefore, God expects all His children who receive salvation to tell others, so they might be saved.  The power of sharing salvation with others through testimony brings ministry into the “light” because it is a witness to the world as well as the foundation of service to tell all that God is still alive.  At that moment of caring, many have acknowledged grace as the unmerited gift from God that saved them.  Being cared for by God is “Good News.”

Ministry is a tangible expression of God’s presence and the phenomenal love exhibited through the miraculous life on earth in his human form as Jesus Christ.  God the Father allowed Jesus to die for our sins and was resurrected with all power.  Jesus’ death and resurrection gives humanity life and hope.  Although salvation is a gift of caring that gives us life, the Holy Spirit comforts us.  In ministry, as we operate in the special gifts given each of us through our relationship with Christ, we are called in I John 5: 1-8 to minister in a manner that reflects love and obedience to the commandments of God.  Because faith is an expression of our belief in God, ministry is seen as a tangible expression of God’s love from the body of Christ to persons that may or may not be members.  Caring and serving others changes both hearts and lives of others.  Salvation and spiritual growth are ignited because someone cares; for Christians that caring someone is Jesus Christ.
            So then what does it mean to care for others?  For me it means to pray, teach, preach, laugh, encourage, pay attention, acknowledge, love and hug persons on this daily journey called life.  Caring is giving others a priceless gift of love from God.  Will you care enough today to share the gift of love from God with someone?  Will the love of Jesus Christ be enough for the gift of caring to be shared with a stranger, a neighbor, a friend, a family member, an enemy and you?  Thanks for accepting this invitation to care today from Jesus Christ!  06/01/07