The Channel of Love

“The problem with too many of us is that we think God called us to be manufacturers when He really called us to be distributers.” - Warren Wiersbe

God is the God of resources that offer life.

Acts 3:6 ESV

6 But Peter said, “I have no silver and gold, but what I do have I give to you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk!”

We have nothing. Except for Christ.

This is pivotal for us to learn when seeking to minister to others. We too often degrade ourselves, criticize our abilities, and critique others based on physical characteristics, not on the power of Christ that resides within us.

Turn with me to Luke 9:12-17

In this gospel, the feeding of the five thousand takes place, as well as the other three gospels. I think we can learn a thing or two from this passage regarding what it means to be distributers of the gospel!

Luke 9:12–17 ESV

12 Now the day began to wear away, and the twelve came and said to him, “Send the crowd away to go into the surrounding villages and countryside to find lodging and get provisions, for we are here in a desolate place.” 13 But he said to them, “You give them something to eat.” They said, “We have no more than five loaves and two fish—unless we are to go and buy food for all these people.” 14 For there were about five thousand men. And he said to his disciples, “Have them sit down in groups of about fifty each.” 15 And they did so, and had them all sit down. 16 And taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven and said a blessing over them. Then he broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples to set before the crowd. 17 And they all ate and were satisfied. And what was left over was picked up, twelve baskets of broken pieces.

On of the first things we see in this passage is how the disciples tried to get rid of the people in order to free themselves from the problem at hand-

When doing ministry, we are often tempted to get rid of the very people God wants us to help.

We see the disciples do this frequently, remember the story of the demon oppressed daughter in Matthew 15?

Matthew 15:21–28 ESV

21 And Jesus went away from there and withdrew to the district of Tyre and Sidon. 22 And behold, a Canaanite woman from that region came out and was crying, “Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David; my daughter is severely oppressed by a demon.” 23 But he did not answer her a word. And his disciples came and begged him, saying, “Send her away, for she is crying out after us.” 24 He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” 25 But she came and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, help me.” 26 And he answered, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.” 27 She said, “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.” 28 Then Jesus answered her, “O woman, great is your faith! Be it done for you as you desire.” And her daughter was healed instantly.

They have little food, not enough money, and then this is where our resourceful God comes into play...

A littler boy brings two fish and five loaves of bread- clearly not enough to feed the crowd.

From here you know the story… Jesus multiplies the amount of food and it continues to provide as the disciples are distributing it out to the people.

The whole time the disciples were trying to be manufacturers. They thought it was their responsibility to manufacture the money/food to meet the needs of the people.

Jesus needed his disciples, not as manufacturers but as distributers.

Notice what work happened in which hands...

The multiplication took place in Jesus’ hands.

The distribution was the work of the disciple’s hands.

When we recognize that we are distributers and not manufacturers, we find freedom in our mission.

This is actually where we begin to see God do an amazing work.

So in a spiritual sense, what is the resource that we are distributing?

It is summarized in one word- grace.

John 1:16 ESV

16 For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace.

Grace is not earned or deserved, it is received.

Wiersbe puts it this way-

We are channels of God’s grace, not reservoirs.

Channel: a length of a straight connected two bodies of water

Reservoirs: a large lake used to store water

Luke 6:38 ESV

38 give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.”

Because we have a manufacturer mentality, we are always prone to depend on ourselves.

Dependency on the Lord is the beginning of functioning as a channel of God’s grace and love.

1 Corinthians 15:10 ESV

10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me.

Our first step before working as Channels of God’s grace is not to begin giving… but to...

“confess our bankruptcy and receive by faith the grace that we need for acceptable service.”

Just as we are saved by faith through grace, we must work by faith through grace.

This is when God can begin to work through us.