D17 P11: All the way to the least

Last Saturday, we attended the fundraiser for Bridge of Hope Church in the urban core of KCK. Many of you are very familiar with BoH and Pastor Luther - I would love to introduce the rest of you to them sometime.

Luther asked me that while I was acknowledging their partners if I would be willing to share some thoughts about why we support their ministry. For me, it's a Gospel question, expressed in three statements:

1. You don’t get the Gospel until you extend it to the “least of these.”
2. You don’t get the Gospel until you put the “least of these” first.
3. You don’t get the Gospel until you surrender to the reality that we really are equal in Christ.

First, until you are personally extending the Gospel to those who don't rank high in the world's twisted value system, you don't fully comprehend the reach of the Gospel. You don't personally experience in the marrow of your bones how far the Gospel goes until your bones are being used to bring the Gospel to society's marginalized and forgotten. If you think the Gospel stops short of anyone (or live like the Gospel stops short of anyone), you don't get it fully, yet. If the Gospel extends to the "least," then it extends to everyone.

Second, until you put these "least ones" first, you don't see how completely the Gospel reverses the human condition. On a few occasions, people asked Jesus to distinguish who was greatest among them, and he responded with the enigmatic, "In the Kingdom of God, the first shall be last, and the last, first; he who is greatest among you shall be the servant of all." If that's what the Kingdom of God is like, then I don't get it or the Gospel (the Good News of the Kingdom of God) until I live it, until I personally put the last first and become the servant of all.

Third, until you give into the idea in Gal 3:28 that in Christ no one is above another, you don't get this Gospel. Speaking into a society with strict categories elevating one group over another, the Gospel demanded that those with privilege surrender to the equality with all others in Christ. When we personally throw up our hands in total surrender that we have no spiritual advantage over anyone in Christ, then we comprehend a key aspect of the Gospel.

That is why we are involved with Bridge of Hope, who specializes in ministry to the "least" - those who are my equals in Christ.

From this, we derive the 11th truth about discipleship in our "D17" series (17 truths about discipleship):

Discipleship is going to be others-focused, especially the least of these.

To be disciplemakers is to be focused on the spiritual growth of others. That's the orientation of disciplemaking. But in order to really get the Gospel, we must pay particular attention to those who don't rank high in the world's twisted value system. That's the reach of disciplemaking. We must point in the right direction and reach to the fullest extend in order to "get" the Gospel and personally experience the richness of being one of Jesus' disciplemakers.

Who in your neighborhood or place of employment is considered by the group to be the "least"? What would be communicated about the Gospel of Jesus Christ if you paid particular attention to that one, with a heart to influence him or her even a little in the direction of the Kingdom of God?