March 01, 2018 by Jean Johnson

Micah 6:8 reads:  He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. (NIV) 

Imagine if every Jesus-follower was equipped by the church to live out Micah 6:8 on a micro-level: if all followers of Jesus were enabled to do justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with their God in their own communities and networks of relationships—in their own towns, cities, and villages—according to their abilities. 

One of the ways cross-cultural workers can inspire a lifestyle of Micah 6:8 around the world is to promote and model a micro-level of Micah 6:8. 

Most Westerners are accustomed to macro-level acts of justice and mercy; gathering at a stadium to pack meals for the hungry; promoting justice from big stages and near celebrity status; raising funds through summer youth campaigns; running food pantries; building schools and orphanages; drilling wells and constructing homes. 

These macro-level acts of justice and mercy are only doable for a few people in the world: those who have wealth or access to wealth. Additionally, when missionaries and cross-cultural Christian workers practice these macro-level acts in the majority world, they often overshadow and outrun grassroots justice and mercy. Once they show up and set up their macro-level acts of justice and mercy, cultural insiders characteristically stop determining and implementing acts of justice and mercy according to their own means and creativity—or worse, they never even start. 

What if we encouraged and made ample room for doable and reproducible Micah 6:8 acts of justice and mercy in our mission models, instead of modeling only what we can do with foreign money and status? What if every local Jesus-follower and church took up small and affordable acts of mercy and justice? Imagine with me every local Christian family adopting a widow or an orphan, sharing meals with a family who lost their crops, or teaching a vocational skill to someone unemployed? 

I know a Cambodian woman who saw an older boy forage through garbage near her home. Eventually, she invited him to stay with her family. Her family made ends meet from week to week, but she knew they could make a little space for one extra person. It would have been easier for her to bring him to a mission-run orphanage or charity. But she did what she could do according to her abilities. 

When we make Micah 6:8 the role of the nonprofit, the government, or the wealthy mission agency, we put these acts of service into the hands of a few, instead of into the hands of all. 

I believe the apostle Paul was urging and affirming Micah 6:8 at a micro-level when he spoke of the churches in Macedonia: 

Now, friends, I want to report on the surprising and generous ways in which God is working in the churches in Macedonia province. Fierce troubles came down on the people of those churches, pushing them to the very limit. The trial exposed their true colors: they were incredibly happy, though desperately poor. The pressure triggered something totally unexpected: an outpouring of pure and generous gifts. I was there and saw it for myself. They gave offerings of whatever they could—far more than they could afford!—pleading for the privilege of helping out in the relief of poor Christians. 

This was totally spontaneous, entirely their own idea, and caught us completely off guard. What explains it was that they had first given themselves unreservedly to God and to us. The other giving simply flowed out of the purposes of God working in their lives. (2 Corinthians 8:1–7, MSG) 

If every Christ-follower, every family, and every church in every community practiced Micah 6:8 at a micro-level, much like the churches Paul boasted about, we would see acts of justice, deeds of mercy, and love for God like never before.

 What does this mean for the cross-cultural Christian worker? 

• If we have to raise funds outside the local setting or far from    geographical proximity, we are modeling macro-level justice and mercy.
• We need to refrain from stifling local deeds of justice and mercy with our macro-level projects.
• Like Paul, we need to be more creative in serving as catalysts for Micah 6:8 at a micro-level. 

What does this mean for indigenous Jesus-followers and churches? 

• Cease relying on outsiders to drive and pay for acts of justice and       mercy in your so-called Jerusalem (Acts 1:8).
• Let people know that small acts of kindness according to their means add up to big impacts in people’s lives.
• Equip Jesus-followers, families, and churches in everyday, micro-level acts of justice and mercy.
• Model for those around you how to practice Micah 6:8 on a micro-level. 

He has shown you, O mortal, what is good.And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. (Micah 6:8, NIV)