Why in the world would he do such a thing?

It is a rare day now that we do not hear of yet more violence, somewhere in the world.  O LORD, have mercy.   And as I read the accounts about those intentionally injuring and attempting to kill as many people as possible, I struggle with the question: “Why in the world would he do such a thing?”

Often, the police unveil the strategic plans of a cell group, plotting destruction, despair, and the loss of precious lives.  The aim of these groups is to wreak havoc on a global scale.

In these news reports, the term “cell groups” catches my attention.  Just about every church I know has a network of small cell groups to minister to the needs of the congregation, to disciple, teach, pray and build community, particularly in multi-site congregations and churches with multiple services.  In my own experience, it is where I have learned to connect and be engaged in the local church. 

Of course, it was Jesus who initiated the whole concept of cell groups when He said: 

“Where two or three are gathered in My name, 

  there I am in the midst of them.   

                                Matthew 18. 20

And so why has the concept of small groups been hijacked to spread evil?

What if….what if….cell groups of Christian believers strategically thought about, engaged, and put into action the spreading of kindness, goodness and mercy?  What about cell groups designed for intentional good, instead of perverted for evil?

We each have personal responsibility to practice the love of Jesus wherever God places us, --even in dark places and especially in impossible situations.  But another incredible dimension opens when there is more than one person involved. What happens when two or three work together, or when a church does?   As a leader in our congregation has often said, “There is a profound reason for organized religion.  Together, we can do so much more.”

The adversary knows that too.

What if the headlines revealed goodness being spread like an infectious wildfire, what if kindness grabbed the nightly news?  What if our culture recognized:  What kind of people do things like that?   The work of selflessness.  The impact of personal sacrifice.  A tsunami wave not of evil but of great goodness without borders for strangers, the marginalized, the undeserving, which all of us are.   Incredible grace and love for the common welfare of all people.

Love God and love people are the cornerstones of God’s commandments.  But Jesus takes it even further.  Love those who persecute you.  Love your enemies.  And yes, even love the annoying brethren. 

If you love those who love you, 

               what credit is that to you?  

 Even sinners love those who love them. 

                                             Luke 6. 32

Who sees anything different in you? 

 

“This courage to be distinctively Christian and therefore to live differently must be restored to the heart of the Christian faith,” says Os Guiness in his book Impossible People.  

Do not be overcome by evil

      but overcome evil with good.

                              Romans 12. 21

Push back the darkness

Don’t run from it.

Strike love on a global scale,

       one act of kindness at a time,

and there is

   never anything insignificant in that.

That is how the early Church took root

        and changed the world.

That's how the Church today takes root,

            bears fruit,

                 and still changes the world. 

Not by random acts of niceness,

    but through intentional grace.