Doing Justice and Loving Mercy: Compassion Ministries, Mentor's Guide, MG16

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D O I N G J U S T I C E A N D L O V I N G M E R C Y : C O M P A S S I O N M I N I S T R I E S

the local assembly, the association, order, or mission society, and finally the state). We also listed the six principles of doing this kind of ministry in a local church setting. Your aim here ought to be to enable your students to get a bird’s eye view of some of the central elements involved in a local church setting where issues of justice, mercy, love, peace, and good works are to be considered. This segment provided an overview of those elements, and the questions below are designed to help you both review and explore their meaning and ramifications. The following case studies center upon dilemmas, problems, and questions related to the issue of fleshing out love and justice in the midst of our urban congregations today. These studies are meant to be discussed critically and carefully. One of the most important skills for emerging Christian leaders is their ability to wrestle with the details of a situation, see patterns, apply principles of Scripture, and suggest alternative approaches to resolve the dilemmas raised in the cases. Wrestle together with your students on these cases, explore trajectories that they want to consider, and probe beneath the surface for more tangible, basic solutions. Of course, you will have to gauge your time well, especially if your students are intrigued with the concepts, and want to discuss their implications at length. Before we finish this lesson, you may find Ryken’s summary excellent on the role of the Church as a “house of hospitality.” It will provide you with much wisdom as you explore the final two lessons, which deal very specifically in how we may demonstrate this kind of love and justice in the urban community and beyond. The NT likewise abounds in references to hospitality. The record of Jesus’ life as an itinerant teacher and miracle worker is a virtual chronicle of hospitality received (Matt. 26.6; Mark 1.29; 7.24; 14.3; Luke 7.36; 14.1, 12; John 12.1–2). The most famous pictures of that hospitality are Mary and Martha’s entertainment of Jesus (Luke 10.38–42) and the occasion when Jesus invited himself to the house of Zacchaeus (Luke 19.1–10). In his Olivet Discourse, Jesus made hospitality to himself and to his missionary “brothers” the key to entering the Kingdom of heaven in his statement, “For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me

5 Page 93 Case Studies

6 Page 95 Restatement of the Lesson’s Thesis