Putting on Christ in a Real Way

“But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.”—Romans 13:14

My guess is that many Christians are familiar with this verse. Some may be doing it. Most are probably not (just calling it how I see it). I say this because I know for a fact I usually do not. To put on Christ is by far the most difficult commandment in the entire Bible. It’s so hard in fact, that we cannot do it. It is only possible because of Christ working in us through the Holy Spirit.

This week I’ve seen the Holy Spirit working mightily in and through a couple of young men in my church. My pastor and one of the other interns have spent the entire week homeless. It was intentional and thankfully it was done for the right reasons. Here are the five reasons Pastor Tim outlined in his pre-homeless blog:

We want to show the homeless that we love them.
We want to get to know the stories of the homeless in our community.
We want to offer them something precious (Jesus crucified and risen).
We want the church to grow in her love and understanding of the homeless who live among us.
We want to better understand our Savior (his incarnation).

From what I’ve seen and experienced (as I joined them a few days in), all of these goals have been accomplished or lived out. In my mind, number one and five kind of go together. As we allow ourselves to live homeless, we are acting similarly to our Savior who left Heaven to come to the filth of earth. By becoming homeless we are leaving the comforts of our homes, beds, etc. to say to the homeless we are on an even playing field. We are no better than you.

Being homeless and simply spending time with the homeless is what allows us to hear their stories. Listening is an important technique for any ministry, but even more important when working with the homeless since nobody listens to them. By simply listening we show we care about them. That being said, they generally aren’t going to open up just because they can. They need a reason. The last year and a half, Tim and many in our church have given them that reason. They can now feel free to open up since they know we really do care about them.

This week we have taken advantage of that established trust by listening to people tell us about their lives and their struggles. As we fight to become more gospel-fluent, hopefully we can meet these people where they are and show them exactly how the gospel applies to their life.

A big part of any homeless ministry is going to be providing for physical, tangible needs. It has to be, since they have so little. But if the provision ended there, then we would only be encouraging the ever-growing-in-popularity social gospel. By becoming homeless ourselves we have done a few things. We have evened the playing field in another way. For a week we cannot provide anything tangible to the homeless. And so we have taken advantage of this, and instead tried to provide them with something much more lasting, the gospel.

Each day, Tim has told The Story of God to a group of homeless outside the Library. Each day, the crowds have gotten larger. The truth is that these people (as all people do) need the gospel more than anything else they could possibly get their hands on. We are trying our hardest to ensure they are given every chance to love their creator and savior. It has been sweet to see people really get into the story and think along with it and ask questions about it, and really reflect on it. When this happens, we can be assured the Spirit really is moving amongst us and doing amazing things. Praise God!

The first couple nights, Tim has blogged about his day and posted it on our church’s website. By doing this, a large portion of our church has been able to follow along and actively participate in this week-long journey. Writing the blog is a great opportunity to help people pray for Tim in everything he is going through. Just as important though it has helped people better understand the struggles and issues that the homeless face. Another part of this that is really cool is the reception it has received not just in our community but throughout Acts 29.

My pastor had a phone meeting yesterday morning with a pastor from Missouri. When the two made contact, the Missouri pastor asked why my pastor was calling, since he was homeless. Tim asked him how he even knew that, and his response was that he’d been reading the blog. Then yesterday the San Diego Union Tribune sent out their “best reporter” and a photographer to interview and detail the excursion. In other words, many people are going to have an opportunity to learn about what it means to be homeless, and hopefully come to better understand the gospel as a result of this week.

Finally, I know my short time being homeless has led me to cherish Jesus more. I realize he was homeless for 33 years. So doing this for a couple days does not compare. But it allows me to see just how pathetic my desires for comfort and pleasure are when compared to the pain and suffering Jesus went through.

The amazing thing is he intentionally became homeless so that we (God’s people) would not have to suffer for eternity as a homeless people. Even for those who are currently living homeless, it is momentary. It will one day end, at which point they’ll be able to call God’s eternal palace Home! That is my hope and my joy. I know God will save many from the tyranny of not having a home. He has been so kind to humanity since the fall. It is all part of his plan to bring his people home to the garden.

This week we’ve really been focusing on putting on Christ and taking off the flesh. My prayer is that we are becoming more like our Savior. If we are not, it would be reasonable to say that this week has been a waste. But for the above reasons I trust that is not the case. Again praise God!