Tuesday, September 6, 2011

Christians in Action

"...And the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch." ~Acts 11:26
"Treat everyone with politeness, even those who are rude to you - not because they are nice, but because you are." ~Author Unknown
"What this world needs is a new kind of army - the army of the kind." ~Cleveland Amory
Christian - "Christ-like".
When I was in high school I was in a club called Christians in Action (aka: CIA :-). I feel the name of this club sums up the excerpt below I felt to share. While we, as Christians, are not saved by works, if God's Spirit is truly in us it WILL show through in the fruit we bear...Love, Joy, Peace, Longsuffering, Gentleness, Goodness, Faith, Meekness, Temperance.
The below is from a fictional book I am reading titled "The Silas Diary" by Gene Edwards. While it is a fictional work, it is based on the real journeys of the Apostle Paul as recorded in the Book of Acts. Whether or not this is the way it was, only God knows...however, this IS the way it should be and I truly belief the way it can be:
...During the course of a year, some who have rooms lose them because they have no money or nothing left with which to barter. During the winter, some barter all they own for food. In this region of Galatia, many slaves, when given the opportunity, refuse to be set free. Others, once freed and on the edge of starvation, sell themselves back into slavery. Hardship is a constant companion in the lives of these people. Such are the people who make up the community of believers in Pisidia.
A group of people have become brothers and sisters, their new way of life wonderful and joyful. It is a way of living never before seen on the face of the earth. Yet God ordained that it come into being in this poor and remote region of Asia Minor.
It is amazing, as I look back, to see how these holy ones take care of one another. If one brother finds a job in the marketplace and the supervisor needs more help, that brother runs to find another brother so he, too, can work that day.
When several brothers work together, they work harder and better. They share a spirit of joy, often singing, often praising. Though the masters and supervisors don't understand it, they remember these men who work so well together. As they hire workers each morning in the marketplace, they search out these faces first. Some of the merchants have been known to say: "You, today you work. Go find your friends, the ones you call brothers, the ones you laugh and sing with."
In the gatherings, brothers tell one another about possible places to look for a day's work. The next night they tell everyone about how the Lord provided them a job, while the rest listen, rejoice, laugh, and interrupt.
Nor were the brothers alone in this new way of meeting needs. This new life inside them was changing everyone and everything, affecting the women as much as the men. The sisters in Pisidia began caring for one another, a phenomenon unknown in the Gentile world. They care for one another in the most unexpected ways. In childbirth, of course, but also working together at the river and in their homes and rooms. (Those who have no home and have to sleep in the forum are especially cared for.) Any sister who becomes sick is soon cared for throughout the night and day.
I have often seen the sisters working together in the fields, caring for one another's children, sharing vegetables and grain with one another, or cleaning rooms together. Sometimes they meet only to sing, to talk, to cry, to care, and to be cared for. If one somehow manages to have more than a day's supply of food, they often come together and prepare one big meal so all can have a good meal that day.
"Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!" ~Psalm 133:1