OK....for some reason I'm in a "deep" mood today, so you'll have to bear with me.
One of the most frequent errors many Christians make between themselves is in dismissing a very real and a very pressing prayer request with a promise to pray for the supplicant. This is a clear misunderstanding of the commandments and commissions left for us as Christians by Jesus Christ.
When Christ ascended, following His meeting with the disciples, He laid upon them the charge to care for His Children. His message to Peter ("Feed my sheep", John 21:17), coupled with Acts 1:8 ("But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth") make clear that the EARTHLY work of the church was left to the charge of His followers until that time when He returns. We are, in essence, "little Christs" ("I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in me, and I in him, bears much fruit, for without me, you can do nothing"). As "little Christs", we are to witness to those around us. This doesn't mean to stand on a streetcorner seeing how ridiculous we can look, but rather, to let our thoughts and actions witness to our standing in Christ. As one early church teacher put it (St. Augustine, I believe) "in all things, bear witness. If necessary, use words".
What this means is that the practice of BEING a Christian is a serious charge, one that we should not take lightly. As we are commanded to bear one another's burdens, we need to reach out and actively minister to the needs of a hurting world.
Now, here's where I lose the conservative crowd.
Though I eschew the teachings in general, there's truth to be found in the teachings of transcendence in the Eastern religion cultures. Christ explicitly stated "inasmuch as you did it to the least of my brethren, you did it to me" (Matthew 25:40); and conversely, "inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me" (Matthew 25:45). The implications of the passage are clear: we ARE our brother's keeper, and we bear a great deal of moral responsibility for their plight if it is within our means to remedy. We also bear a great deal of responsibility if we heal them and lift them up.
So, who is my savior? You are, my friend. And I am yours.
signing off,
Gideon MacLeish