Welcome to 100 Fold Ministry’s blog we call Backyard Conversations. Pull up a chair here on the patio, let me pour you some lemonade and let’s chat for a bit!

We are about to set off on a brief two week series we are calling the Caring and Sharing series. It is not a super clever or catchy name, but it does rhyme! There are two reasons for the series name:

1. As a community at risk these days, it just seemed like a timely topic, and,
2. There are some things that we should keep in mind as we experience the relentlessness of life.

Learning how to make it in school and your family, and finding and keeping a job is what life is all about for humanity the first 15 to 20 to 25 years of our lives. Most of us don’t enter the work force in earnest until age 18 to 25. So, if we are to keep a job and be in a position to marry, perhaps raise a family, contribute meaningfully to a job and in a community, we should learn the lessons of family and school first. So we’re going to learn about caring and sharing. Seems easy enough.

I am wondering if it is tougher to be a caring person today than it was, say, 25 years or even 100 years ago?

For instance . . . This picture of two second graders in Wichita, Kansas went viral on the internet. The Washington Post, CNN, and ABC all covered it, and NBC closed their evening news with this story.

It seems that Conner, the boy on the left, is autistic. He was excited to go to grade school, but stepping off the bus he became overwhelmed. He sat down in a corner and rolled up into a ball and started to cry. The young man to the right saw his sadness and came over and took his hand and they went through the day together. By the way, the name of the young boy on the right is Christian.

So why is it news when there is a simple act of kindness? What is going on in our culture today?

It’s tough to know how to impact real change in the 21^st century, but some things never change. Here is how Paul put it.

Ephesians 4:32
Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.

I want to look briefly at four areas of caring beginning with Self-Care.

I’m not the poster child for self-care. But as I get older, I am seeing that if I want to be a profitable soldier for Christ into my 90s, I am going to have to practice a form of self-care that is dramatically different from how I have treated myself in the past.

The Scriptures indicate this is important:

3 John 1:2
Beloved, I pray that all may go well with you and that you may be in good health, as it goes well with your soul.

1 Corinthians 10:31
So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.

1 Corinthians 6:19-20
Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So, glorify God in your body.

Taking care of ourselves appears to be an act of worship if we are doing it to the glory of God and to advance His Kingdom rather than to advance ours. We are not to absorb any glory unto ourselves. We all know people who use their physical body to impress and intimidate. That is definitely not what the Bible is speaking of!

Then there is Caring for our Families. God delights in this caring too!

1 Timothy 5:8
But if anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for members of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.

It seems obvious, but I suppose in a time of fractured families and wounded relationships, it is time to look deep into our lives to see if this caring for those closest to us is being taken for granted.

And famously, in this season of want and homelessness in our communities, is the commission to Care for the Needy. The Proverbs have a word to say to us here.

Proverbs 28:27
Whoever gives to the poor will not want, but he who hides his eyes will get many a curse.

Proverbs 21:13
Whoever closes his ear to the cry of the poor will himself call out and not be answered.

And finally for this Backyard Conversation, there is Caring for our Church, or better stated, the Caring for the Family of Believers.

1 John 3:17-18
But if anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him? Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.

Galatians 6:9-10
And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.

And there is this famous verse that represents the last teaching of Jesus on the night of His betrayal:

John 13:34-35
A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

I will close for today with this summary of caring, and I hope, helpful hint. They are not a step-by-step static formula for caring – every moment of need is person-centered and needs person-centered caring. So it is not a formula! But these principles will aid you in framing your mind and heart as you step into care:

The Spiritual Laws of Caring

• Have the humble mind of Christ – Caring is not about me
• Everyone wants someone to listen to their story
• Be in their world
• Don’t keep score

If you are looking for a tutor in the art of caring, you can go to any number of the encounters of Jesus. When he entertained Nicodemus at night; when he touched and healed the leaper; when he healed the woman with a lifetime of bleeding when she touched his robe; when he redeemed Peter and Thomas and John after his death; Zacchaeus; the woman brought to him, caught in adultery; his compassion with Martha and Mary. The God we serve is the King of Kindness. Follow Him closely and He will show you true care!

In our next Backyard Conversation blog, to wrap up this short series, we will take on the idea of Kingdom Sharing. Sounds easy enough! See you back here at 100foldministries.org.

This is Dave Scherrer. Take care!