By Don Mears
By Don Mears
Some of you remember those World War II posters of a stern Uncle Sam pointing out at you and saying, "Your country needs you!"
Many of you responded to that challenge, going to work or to fight for your country even though you knew it would mean personal sacrifice and change of priorities. You responded because you believed in the cause you were fighting for.
Chances are somewhere along the way many of you realized that not every decision being made by your own side was perfect. But you knew that it was better to keep on fighting for the right side, for all its faults, than to quit and sit it out on the sidelines.
The idealism and self-sacrificing commitment of that wartime generation are harder to find in our society today. But as Christians we are challenged to rediscover that commitment.
I believe Jesus Christ is saying to his people today the same sort of thing Uncle Sam said in those posters. Jesus is saying to us, "Your church--my church--needs you!"
Do you remember the promises we made to Jesus when we were baptized? We promised to love, honor, obey and serve him.
He called us, and we promised to offer our lives in his service. We heard him say it would not be easy.
He has been faithful to his word, hasn't he? We have gone through difficult times. We have experienced growth in our understanding that has challenged us. It has not been easy. Sometimes it has hurt so much that we have felt discouraged and depressed and abandoned.
But Jesus has not abandoned us. The fact that these things have come upon us is not a sign of his displeasure; rather it is a sign of his relentless love, working always to build his likeness in us.
Now is not the time to lose courage. He who began to do this work in and through us does not intend to abandon it, nor does he want us to abandon it.
The WCG has experience and special qualities and gifts that Jesus has given to us.
As I have come to know pastors in neighboring churches, I have realized that we have something special in our fellowship, a blessing they don't have. We have ties of fellowship that make us a worldwide family.
Many of you know members around the world. How many of our friends in other fellowships have that kind of worldwide family? Yes, they have congregations in many nations--but many do not have the personal ties with such congregations that we are blessed to have.
Look through past issues of the WN, and see again what your church is doing worldwide.
I combed through back issues in search of what the church is doing around the world. I was inspired--and a little surprised.
Surprised because, like many of you, I had become so focused on challenges facing the church in the United States that I lost sight of what we are doing in the rest of the world.
Take a few minutes today to read this issue in that light. Let yourself be encouraged by what Jesus Christ is doing in your church. And let yourself believe that he wants to and will do such things in this country.
No doubt we are a smaller church than we were. But we are a living miracle. Cheer up, little flock; it is your Father's plan and delight to give you the kingdom!
Thirty-eight years ago, President John F. Kennedy spoke some challenging words: "Ask not what your country can do for you," he said, "ask what you can do for your country."
The motto of our culture is almost a parody of John Kennedy's words: "Ask not what you can do for your country or neighbor or family or friend; ask what they can do for you!"
Sadly, those ethics have infected Christians and their churches. Too many Christians approach church with the question: "What's in it for me?"
These are not God's ethics. And they are not the ethics on which a church is built. We are not called so that the church can do things for us. We are called to be the church in order that we may do things for others.
The life of Christianity, the life of the church, is the quest to become a better and better servant.
I am deeply grateful and appreciative of so many of you who do commit your time, talents and treasure to the work of the church--the local work and the worldwide work.
If you have been sitting on the sidelines, I urge you to rejoin us, help us and support us--and let us support you--as we continue to do the work of Jesus Christ together.
Copyright © Worldwide Church of God, 1999