Good Behavior

In perusing our hiring policy documents, I came upon a policy that speaks of ethical boundaries to be observed by Mission employees. We have all agreed to these statements and it is helpful to share some of these behavioral boundaries (with comments, of course). As a staff, we agree to:

• Set aside ample time for spiritual development and nurture through prayer, reading Scripture, church attendance, and regular fellowship and accountability with other believers. We realize that, in order to minister effectively to others, we must be spiritually healthy and growing.
• We seek to appropriately share our faith during personal interactions with guests, volunteers, donors, and other employees.  One of the reasons we exist is to share the gospel and see lives transformed by its power.
• We desire that our actions, speech, and behaviors plainly demonstrate a respect for all guests, volunteers, donors, and fellow staff members. Love, dignity, and respect is to be shown to all those made in the image of God. This is also an effective demonstration of the gospel.
• We seek to exhibit a loving and non-judgmental attitude in dealing with people. We strive to live by the dictum, "There but for the grace of God go I."

These are a few of the behaviors that the staff of the Rescue Mission endeavors to follow. Actually, these are descriptions of basic Christian behavior that should characterize all followers of Christ.

Gospel Rescue Mission

We've said it before - and perhaps it has been mentioned in this blog before - but the Rescue Mission of the Mahoning Valley is a gospel rescue mission cleverly disguised as a homeless shelter. Our intention is not to only provide food and shelter for those who experience homelessness due to unexpected life situations, we desire to give more. So, the question is, "what is a gospel rescue mission?"

The word rescue is important. If we were only a homeless shelter, then providing shelter would be our aim. Getting people off the streets would be our major concern. But the idea of "rescue" implies more than providing shelter. It implies hope; it implies a change in the circumstances that led to the situation.

We are a rescue mission. The word "mission" often conjures up images of soup lines, panhandlers, or even primitive people who live in rain forests or jungles waiting for a missionary to bring civilization to them. For us, we view what we do as a mission - a task to which we have been appointed by the Lord of the Harvest (Matthew 9:36-38).

Further, we are a gospel rescue mission. We are commissioned by the Lord of the Harvest to rescue people with the gospel of Christ. Only the gospel can effect the change necessary to address the problems of the human situation. Certainly, we want to clothe, feed, and shelter people. Certainly we want to move people out of crisis situations and help them to become productive members of society. Certainly we want to help break the cycle of poverty and dependency. But all of these are symptoms of the larger issue: we live in a world that is broken and marred by sinfulness and dysfunction, and only redemption in Christ can provide the necessary resources to overcome the vicious cycle.

So, this is what a gospel rescue mission does, as our purpose statement declares: "the purpose of the Rescue Mission of the Mahoning Valley is to serve and glorify God through Christ-centered outreach of love and compassion that responds to the physical, emotional, and spiritual needs of disadvantaged men, women, and children without regard to race, color or creed." By God's grace,
as he works through others to work beside us, this is what we endeavor to do.

Sad News...Again

I would like to say that we were taken by surprise; that we were completely shocked; that we were totally unprepared for news like this. I would like to say that, but it would not be true. Unfortunately, the news we received on July 7 was something that we have heard all too often. "John" (not his real name), one of our former Discipleship Academy members, was found dead of an apparent overdose in the basement of his mother's house.

John entered the Discipleship Academy to learn to overcome his addiction through applying the gospel to his life. By all appearances, he was doing well. Due to an injury and subsequent rehabilitation, he was unable to complete the Academy course, but he stayed engaged with the Mission and its staff. As far as we know, he had been doing well, even holding down a good job.

Had he been using for some time or did he return to "his mess" for this one, fatal time? We will probably never know, but his death by overdose provides a wake-up call for those who are still in the process of achieving some measure of success over this hellish affliction. May I suggest some take-aways from this tragic situation?

• Never underestimate the power of addiction. This holds true for all of those sins and weaknesses that beset us. At the time that we think we have conquered something, it may creep back in to show us our weakness. The Bible gives us wise counsel in this: "Therefore, let anyone who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall" (1 Cor. 10:12), and "Pride goes before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall" (Prov. 16:18). 
• Do not neglect the power and importance of community. In the recovery field, meetings are a vital part of the recovery process. I think that this is a page stolen from the New Testament. The author of Hebrews encourages us in this: "And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another and all the more as you see the Day drawing near" (Heb. 10:24-25). As far as we know, this vital component of fellowship and community was lacking in John's life.
• Do not neglect individual "soul-care." Every Christian is responsible for the management of his or her own walk with God and progress in holiness. Outside influences may contribute to this: church attendance, prayer groups, etc., but in the end it is our individual personal responsibility to lay hold of the means of grace.

Do incidents like this and the many others that have occurred point to a failure in the programs that the Mission offers? Does this negatively impact our "success rate?" We have long ago abandoned any pretense of measuring a "success rate," though we are asked about it frequently. This we know to be true:

First, the gospel is the power of God that brings salvation (Rom. 1:16). When one embraces the gospel of Christ, that individual is a "new creation. The old has passed away, behold the new has come" (2 Cor. 5:17). By his own testimony, John had embraced this life-changing gospel.

Second, even though Christians are redeemed, we are still human. We still sin; we have flaws; we may slip and fall. In fact, in Gal. 6:1, Paul counsels the church regarding how to deal with a fellow believer who is overtaken by some failure. So, as long as we are in these mortal bodies, we must continue to take heed to ourselves, to seek out Christian community and fellowship, to engage in personal soul care as an ongoing spiritual discipline.