"And when Jesus saw great multitudes about Him, He gave a command to depart to the other side. Then a certain scribe came and said to Him, ‘Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.’ And Jesus said to him, ‘The foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.’" Matthew 8:18-20 [NKJV]

For those who believe that there is no God, only two things matter to them in life - "to maximize their pleasure and minimize their pain," as John Stuart Mill said. They don’t care about people who are naked, sick, behind prison bars or dying of hunger. Their only concerns are that their wants and self-gratifications are fulfilled.

But, for those who believe that there is a God, they have or should have a different perspective on life. In their attitude towards people, they put others before themselves and are equally concerned about others as they are about themselves. This is what it means to be a Christian - to share your life with others as Christ has shared His life with us.

However, for many Christianity is only skin-deep, external and superficial. Too often, Christ is taken out of Christianity and it becomes a life style rather than life itself, a habit rather than a purpose. Too many drive to and from church without having made any connections with their community. Far too many are satisfied with a self-fulfilling, self-gratifying worship service that they attend systematically and mechanically once a week.

The questions that many of us need to ponder are: Am I still a Christian outside of the church building? Do I live as a Christian should? Why am I a Christian at all?

When we look at the life of the scribe in Matthew, chapter eight, we see someone who was highly educated and a part of the scholarly class of the Jewish society. This man was attracted to Jesus and wanted to become His disciple, but he was prompted by impure motives. He wanted to be a part of the inner circle that he thought might give him more power, recognition and influence in the society.

However, this man did not acknowledge Christ as the Son of God but as an honored teacher and wise, influential and popular man. He said, "Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go." This scribe failed to realize that Jesus is not just a good teacher or a good man. He is the Savior, the Lord of our life, the Son of God, the King of kings.

Interestingly, Jesus responded to the scribe saying, "The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head." What does Jesus mean? If I may, I think He is saying, "I am homeless."

Now, could you imagine how people would have reacted to the thought that Jesus was homeless? I imagine that some would have said, "Wait a minute, Jesus, how could you be homeless? You are to be the king - the one who will conquer the Roman Empire and give us political freedom for our nation and our people. You are the Christ, aren’t you?" And I imagine that others said, "Well, I guess we picked the wrong guy. I won’t follow Him no more."

Because human nature has natural tendencies to be fickle, unstable, and self-centered, some people become a Christian for the excitement, glamour and hope of personal benefits. Certainly, the scribe was one of these individuals. He came to gain self-glorification.

Do you remember the young rich ruler who came to Jesus seeking after eternal life? Jesus told him to keep the commandments as found in Matthew 19:16-22. The young man answered without any hesitation "All these things I have kept from my youth up: What lack I yet?"

I say he was too confident of his law-keeping life. We might think that his observance of the law was perfect, but how was his spirituality? According to eyes of human flesh, he might appear to have had an unblemished character and perfect life. However, he did not understand the true meaning of faith and what it means to be a Christian. He did not understand the social responsibility and duty of a Christian.

Many people think like the young rich ruler. I am not guilty of murder, stealing, or adultery, they may think. But the question is what have you done to save others? Have you shared a pint of blood with someone in need? When was the last time that you made a visit and shared the gospel with someone on their deathbed? What have you done to help someone who is naked and hungry? Have you shared the words of God - mercy and grace - with someone living in darkness?

Jesus said, "For I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me." Matthew 25:35, 36

What are you doing for your community? God commissions us to supply our community’s needs. As Christians, we must minister to the poor, needy, and ignorant. Christ "mingled with people…. He showed sympathy and ministered to their needs," said Ellen White. When we follow Christ’s example, then can we hear Him say, "Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me." Matthew 25:40

But, most of us have a problem. We want to secure our eternal salvation, without paying the price. Dietrich Bonhoeffer said, "The Christian life is not adding Jesus to one’s own way of life but renouncing that personal way of life for His and being willing to pay whatever cost that may require." If there is no cross in our current life, how can we expect a golden crown in heaven?

Plans, programs and organizations cannot substitute the individual responsibility that each of us has to fulfill the mission of reaching out to others, which is doing the Lord’s will. However, in most congregations across North America, the tendency to isolate and separate from the community is pervasive. With no relationship with the community, it is nearly impossible to have an influence on it.

We have lost our saltiness. Instead of making church a lighthouse, we have made it a social house. We serve inwardly and invest much of our resources into isolated church agendas rather than our community. We must not allow this to go on any longer. It is time to build the bridge between the community and the church.

Understanding the conceptual idea of our Christian duty as it relates to our fellow men will not compensate for not practicing the concept. The apostle John said, "By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us, and we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. But whoever has this world’s goods, and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in Him? My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth." 1 John 3:16-18.

"The end of all learning is to know God and out of that knowledge, we love and imitate Him," said John Milton. Therefore, we should live the life that Christ lived. So, let me ask you, aren’t we like the scribe who wouldn’t acknowledge Christ as God, if we refuse to imitate His life?

Our faith must come alive by following the footsteps of our Lord Jesus Christ. Christianity is not something that we talk about. Christianity is what we experience and what we do.

How we live on every other day rather than the one day of worship determines who we really are. I am not referring to our positions in the workplace; that is not important. I am talking about do we act like we belong to whose we say we are?

Our primary responsibility as a disciple of Jesus Christ is to proclaim the gospel and to bring the good news of eternal life to the spiritually dead.

We are to interact with our community in order to make a difference. We must not only work for our community but with our community. We must be the agents that will bring change to this society.

There is a feeding program in Houston, Texas, called Kid Care, Inc., which was initiated by the Porter family who are Seventh-day Adventists. In 1984, they began feeding a few children who lived on street corners and in parks with one big stew pot. Today, the organization provides over 20,000 meals every month.