“He has shown you, O mortal, what is good.
And what does the LORD require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy
and to walk humbly with your God.” (Micah 6:8 NIV)
Dr. Tony Evans, posted this verse and image on his Facebook page yesterday so I followed suit. He is the first black man to get his doctorate from Dallas Theological Seminary and, with the release of The Tony Evans Bible Commentary, the first African American to write and publish a full commentary and Study Bible.
Several years ago I was working with diverse groups of leaders—men and women from various ethnic backgrounds and Christian traditions—wrestling with how to live out the call of Micah 6:8 in our contexts. For my black brother who is now CEO of the largest gospel rescue mission in Minneapolis, he wanted to see the brokenness of homelessness eradicated by rallying churches to commit to partner with him in this fight. For my white sister who was Executive Director of a Christian legal aid group, it was providing good legal help to those who had little access to quality lawyers. And for me, an Asian American male who pastored a church in Los Angeles, it was committing to preach the whole bible with a clear challenge to join God’s mission in blessing the city. It was in these “Micah Groups” that we reflected on and made plans to live out these biblical ideals of justice, mercy and humility. What a time in our world today that we would see the desperate need for humble leaders who are willing to do whatever it takes for God’s name to be glorified.
Tony Evans prays, “It is time now for the church to be what the head of the church Jesus Christ called it to be: the repairer of the breach in our culture. And that must mean that we not just stand up against personal sins but corporate sins and systemic sins.”
God did not wire us to simply be receptors of His blessings. If we keep those blessings to ourselves, we are failing to live up to what God intended for our joy as we minister to a specific brokenness in our world. “It is more blessed to give than to receive” (Acts 20:35).
Prayer
Lord, make me an instrument of your peace. Where there is hatred, let me sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; and where there is sadness, joy.
O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console; to be understood as to understand; to be loved as to love. For it is in giving that we receive; it is in pardoning that we are pardoned; and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. Amen
—St. Francis of Assisi