I am not conflicted by the spiritual and temperamental makeup I carry. I am conflicted by those who seem to imply that I should be different. Somehow I am less a Christian (in their eyes) because I have certain gifting.
I received a clear picture of how I approach the world and how it looks much like my political leanings as well.
To understand Justice versus Mercy you need to see the picture I saw:
That is what a Justice motivation does. Fixing causes not results.
In that scenario I know where I will be. I want to hammer on the injustice that causes people to fall. I’m not nearly as motivated to try to help those who already have fallen. Frankly it’s less rewarding emotionally to work in justice rather than in mercy. Those that already fell know they need help. They are thankful for your mercy.
Those just wandering on the edge of the cliff will treat you with disdain and contempt. I’m OK with that. I don’t want them falling off the edge. I want to build a fence or persuade them to step back. I care that they are safe and secure.
That is the prophetic motivation. I want people to see the cliff, see the people at the bottom, and help them step back.
This has to do with my ministry, my giving, and my efforts. I met a couple who take street kids in Kenya who might become armed and dangerous rebels and teach them to become rebels for Jesus, saving souls, doing good, healing all that are oppressed of the devil. They are making a difference in a nation.
Or a man named Jamison from India that I met. Teaching Men and Women who God has chosen to lead the nation back from the brink of paganism.
Or a Church that intentionally makes a move to take back a region for Jesus, healing families, reprioritizing values, and releasing these same people into the work of the ministry.
I am not too interested in helping poor people who have decided to be poor and live off the goodness of others. I have worked in our local homeless shelter enough to know much of what goes on there is ennablement. I’ll leave that kind of thing to those who are mercy driven.
Even feeding the poor in other countries without doing what the couple in Kenya is doing is just making fat lost people. Show me what you are doing to resolve the situation and I’ll get behind you. Showing me you feed 10,000 kids a day doesn’t move me. Don’t just get them up, get them out!
So, don’t try to sign me up for your mercy mission. Not interested. DO sign me up to help stop the injustice that causes your mercy mission to exist. I sometimes think the motivation of some in mercy missions mean that IF somehow all people under their care were made whole they would be out of a job. I know that’s cynical but I’ve seen things.
I want to work on fixing the causes and not putting a Band-Aid on the symptoms and negative results.
My politics are the same way. That’s no surprise. I’yam who I’yam and I’m not gonna takes it no more. I don’t want to fix the results of bad policy; I want to fix the situations that created or aggravated the negative results.
That’s why I’m a conservative.
I received a clear picture of how I approach the world and how it looks much like my political leanings as well.
To understand Justice versus Mercy you need to see the picture I saw:
There is a cliff, a high cliff overlooking sharp craggy rocks. People are coming to the edge of the cliff. Some are jumping off, some are being pushed off, some are wandering off, some are blind and can’t see they are being led off to oblivion and a few see the edge and step back.
Below the cliff are the broken and wounded people who have fallen from the cliff. They are in pain, some have died, and they need help.
Those who are mercy driven (I thank God they exist) will be drawn to bind up the wounds of those who are falling from the cliff.
Those who are justice driven will run to the edge of the cliff and yell STOP! They will put up a fence and try to dissuade people from getting too close to the edge. They will do all they can to make the wrong thinking, wrong action and wrong directions from causing people to fall from the edge of the cliff.
That is what a Justice motivation does. Fixing causes not results.
In that scenario I know where I will be. I want to hammer on the injustice that causes people to fall. I’m not nearly as motivated to try to help those who already have fallen. Frankly it’s less rewarding emotionally to work in justice rather than in mercy. Those that already fell know they need help. They are thankful for your mercy.
Those just wandering on the edge of the cliff will treat you with disdain and contempt. I’m OK with that. I don’t want them falling off the edge. I want to build a fence or persuade them to step back. I care that they are safe and secure.
That is the prophetic motivation. I want people to see the cliff, see the people at the bottom, and help them step back.
This has to do with my ministry, my giving, and my efforts. I met a couple who take street kids in Kenya who might become armed and dangerous rebels and teach them to become rebels for Jesus, saving souls, doing good, healing all that are oppressed of the devil. They are making a difference in a nation.
Or a man named Jamison from India that I met. Teaching Men and Women who God has chosen to lead the nation back from the brink of paganism.
Or a Church that intentionally makes a move to take back a region for Jesus, healing families, reprioritizing values, and releasing these same people into the work of the ministry.
I am not too interested in helping poor people who have decided to be poor and live off the goodness of others. I have worked in our local homeless shelter enough to know much of what goes on there is ennablement. I’ll leave that kind of thing to those who are mercy driven.
Even feeding the poor in other countries without doing what the couple in Kenya is doing is just making fat lost people. Show me what you are doing to resolve the situation and I’ll get behind you. Showing me you feed 10,000 kids a day doesn’t move me. Don’t just get them up, get them out!
So, don’t try to sign me up for your mercy mission. Not interested. DO sign me up to help stop the injustice that causes your mercy mission to exist. I sometimes think the motivation of some in mercy missions mean that IF somehow all people under their care were made whole they would be out of a job. I know that’s cynical but I’ve seen things.
I want to work on fixing the causes and not putting a Band-Aid on the symptoms and negative results.
My politics are the same way. That’s no surprise. I’yam who I’yam and I’m not gonna takes it no more. I don’t want to fix the results of bad policy; I want to fix the situations that created or aggravated the negative results.
That’s why I’m a conservative.
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