God has set up his people to represent him to the world, and to represent the world to him.
All of God's people are priests before him. All God's children:
- Have ministries of intercession.
- Are to demonstrate God's love and grace.
- Are to provide a path toward peace with God.
When there is failure, wrong, or disaster in the world, God's people should seek God's mercy for those in the middle of what is going wrong. God demonstrated his mercy in Jesus on the Cross. His heart is to build his family. When there is a demonstration of God's mercy, it is a call, an invitation, to return to him. It is also God revealing his heart.
God's people are a picture of what God's heart is like. If we act in judgment, hard heartedness, keeping grudges, or envy, we a proclaiming to the world that God is hard, keeps grudges, and is intent on judgment, and condemnation. The Cross demonstrates otherwise. It demonstrates that God is intent on love, forgiveness, mercy, and reconciliation. By our actions, we can call God a liar. It is best if we soften our hearts, or beseech God to soften our hearts, and respond to people in love. Which just might involve service in messy situations. Jesus was not above getting involved in the mess of life.
The gospel provides a path to peace with God. And it is the mission of God's family to bring an opportunity for each person in the world to obtain that peace. We need to start where we are, and bring God's peace to whatever city we are in. And then, take it ti the horizon, until there is no place in creation that has not been touched by God's love.
