Mercy to the apparently well

There is a whole [group] of young seminarians that, when you ask them, What is the category of people that you are called to serve right now? you will hear this frequently: I believe God is calling me to serve a cool population of the urban young. You don't often hear people say, I am called to the dairy fields to work among the very rural. You just don't hear it very often! Or in the context of this mercy, you don't hear people say, I am called to the middle class, or the upper middle class. There is something about us that questions that. And I don't think that it is fair to question that, because Jesus calls us to minister to all people. How can we reach all people? How can we give the mercy of Jesus to all people? Mercy in the context of the poor is the most obvious, but there is something that we see in the Scriptures as we looked at 1 Thessalonians 5:1–28 that shows us that we need to think in categories, and how ministry can be directed specifically to those within that category. There are those in the church that are not poor. So do they deserve mercy? Yes!

What does ministry look like in the context of middle class or upper middleclass communities? You see, Christ is calling us to minister that there as well. Wealth in itself is not sinful. Often we get in the mind-set that wealth can be sinful, but a careful reading of the New Testament shows us that the ministry of the church was driven by wealthy individuals who were supporting the work of the church. Often these were business women who were behind the scenes, and they were funding the work of missions and the work of mercy and gospel preaching. And as those behind-the-scenes New Testament funders were doing their part in gospel work, what responsibility did the apostles have to them?

They had a responsibility of encouragement. They had a responsibility to bring the Word of God to them and to consider how the mercy of Jesus Christ is to be extended to those who are funding and financing and serving in those areas as well. So we are to develop relationships – relationships through loving deeds. Loving deeds are often more obvious, and they often help people's hearts in ways that help to uncover deeper needs.¹

Nathan Eshelman