The Old Testament prophet Micah reminds us that there are three things God requires of us: ‘to act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with our God." (Micah 6:8)
Perhaps the Micah blueprint can be visualized by the following:
Walk Humbly With God - addressing our spiritual lives: personal commitment to Christ, spiritual disciplines, worship, serving God, becoming a devoted follower of Jesus, sharing in and seeking to build up the Christian family and community.
Love Mercy - addressing individual symptoms of brokenness, lostness and need in our neighbour and others around us, locally and globally; through acts of kindness and service, by meeting basic needs such as food, clothing, shelter, medical assistance and care; by sharing of our abundance with those who have little - and especially who have few choices, if any, in life.
Act Justly - addressing the causes that create the symptoms; job creation andjob training, teaching how to read, helping people prepare for life; fighting for liveable wages and sustainable jobs; tutoring, mentoring; helping change issues of unemployment and under-employment
Many Christians think that the whole of their spiritual life and discipline happens only in the context of the first aspect. The need is for individual disciples - and for churches - to prepare and respond holistically to the challenges and opportunities of all three.
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