It seems that Micah 6.8 is quite clear and straight-forward in its summary of living as God’s People in this world:
He has shown you, O man, what is good.
And what does the Lord require of you?
To do justice, and to love mercy,
and to walk humbly with your God.
Yet, for some reason, many Christians, and too many churches, operate as if doing justice and mercy are components of some sort of optional deluxe Christianity plan – something for those who want to enlist in a branch of the spiritual special forces, but not something expected of every ordinary follower of Christ.
Tim Keller, in his textbook-like Center Church: Doing Balanced, Gospel-Centered Ministry in Your City, offers up some thoughts about the missional and evangelistic benefits of being faithful to what God “has shown us … is good”:
“Celebrate deeds of mercy and justice. We live in a time when public esteem of the church is plummeting. For many outsiders and inquirers, the deeds of the church will be far more important than our words in gaining plausibility (Acts 4:32–33). Leaders in most places see “word-only” churches as net costs to their community, organizations of relatively little value. But effective churches will be so involved in deeds of mercy and justice that outsiders will say, “We cannot do without churches like this. This church is channeling so much value into our community that if it were to leave the neighborhood, we would have to raise taxes.” Evangelistic worship services should highlight offerings for deed ministry and celebrate by the giving of reports, testimonies, and prayers. It is best that offerings for mercy ministries are received separately from the regular offering; they can be attached (as is traditional) to the celebration of the Lord’s Supper. This connection brings before the non-Christian the impact of the gospel on people’s hearts (i.e., the gospel makes us generous) and the impact of lives poured out for the world.”
GRACE & PEACE 