'Those People' Have Value

Jesus ministered to the worst of the worst, and so should His church. “Those people” are valuable to God's Kingdom and have gifts to share with the body of Christ. For many addicts and alcoholics, their addiction is what brought them to their knees in the first place, and without this kind of desperation, they would not have cried out to God at all. At this point, and probably before they even started using, they believe they have no value in the world, and certainly think the same is true for God’s Kingdom. The challenge is helping them believe they do have worth. The question is, how many in the current body of Christ believe they are valuable? Because if the church does not regard their value, they will not be able to help convince the broken ones of their value either.

According to J.R. Miller in a favorite devotional, Streams in the Desert:

"Christ is building His Kingdom with earth's broken things. Men want only the strong, the successful, the victorious, the unbroken, in building their kingdoms; but God is the God of the unsuccessful, of those who have failed. Heaven is filling with earth's broken lives, and there is no bruised reed that Christ cannot take and restore to glorious blessedness and beauty. He can take the life crushed by pain or sorrow and make it into a harp whose music shall be all praise. He can lift earth's saddest failure up to heaven's glory."