In New Testament times, the government didn’t care for people in need like widows and orphans. So the church took on that responsibility. Unfortunately, biases soon started to show, and Jewish widows and orphans were given preferential treatment over Gentile widows and orphans. How did the church leaders respond? They could easily have dismissed or ignored it. They could have said, ‘We’re called to feed souls, not stomachs. Let’s not bother helping needy people anymore.’ Instead, here’s what they did. First, they called a meeting to resolve the problem (see Acts 6:2). They let every member know that their church took poverty seriously, and each one of them was personally responsible before God to do something about it. Second, they assigned the problem to their brightest and best. They selected seven men – well respected, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom – and gave them this responsibility (see Acts 6:3 NLT). When we look at what career we’d like to take up, we often dream about the ones that seem most prestigious, like politics, law, medicine, or government. But what if, instead of thinking ‘I want to be a doctor,’ ‘I want to be a barrister,’ ‘I want to be an MP,’ and so on, we started by thinking ‘I want to help people,’ and see what develops from there? Caring for those in need is one of God’s highest callings. We might look at the vast amounts of need and think we can’t make an impact. It’s true that no one can do everything, but God has called each of us to do something! ‘Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you’ (James 1:27 NLT).
