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

worthy of our respect, protection, and care.” Are even the most vicious, cruel, and hurtful people made in God’s image, too?

* Doesn’t it go against what we know about God to say that he has a special concern for the poor and oppressed? If that is so, how are we to understand passages like Matthew 25 and the “least of these, my brethren” our Lord spoke of? * If all human beings are made in the imago Dei , how can we dare to put any human beings to death, whether in capital punishment or criminal justice or war? Does the imago Dei suggest that no human life ought ever to be taken under any circumstances? Explain your answer. * Why do you think that many Christians advocate positions about people which seem to go against the biblical implications of the imago Dei in humankind? Under what circumstances (if any) can we justify treating other human beings as our enemies ? Explain. * What if I have grown up disliking a particular race or group . Is it possible to tolerate any prejudice or bigotry and still claim to be partakers of the divine nature through faith in Jesus Christ? * Howmight affirming the imago Dei in every boy, girl, woman, and man in a group you do not appreciate transform your ideas and feelings toward them? What if affirming the truth about them doesn’t lead to changed feelings about them–what next? A huge discussion now rages in the church on a recent elder’s decision to start a Men’s Home focused on ex-prisoners, and helping them matriculate back into society. One of the members of the church with the vision, burden, and expertise to start such a ministry, shared his burden with the elders, and over nine months they researched his burden and determined it to be valid and within the mission of the church. A growing group in the church, however, were skeptical of the validity of this idea from the start. How would they be able to guarantee the safety of many of the church members with these men now so visible in the services and activities of the church? Some of the men had sex-offender backgrounds, and many young families have expressed their dismay and concern about the presence of such individuals in the church body. Others argued strongly that the grace of God can Taking These Matters a Little Too Far

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