Why Serving, Caring, and Advocating for Others Is Essential to Christian Growth
Many Christians think of spiritual growth primarily in terms of prayer, Bible study, worship, and personal devotion. These practices are essential. John Wesley called them works of piety, and he believed they were vital means of grace. Yet Wesley was equally convinced that there could be no genuine growth in holiness without works of mercy.
For Wesley, serving the poor, caring for the sick, visiting the imprisoned, feeding the hungry, and advocating for the vulnerable were not optional activities for especially compassionate Christians. They were essential practices for anyone seeking to grow in the love of God.
Why? Because love is not fully formed until it is expressed.
What Are Works of Mercy?
Works of mercy are acts of compassion, service, and justice performed in response to God’s love.
They include caring for the poor, comforting the grieving, visiting the sick, mentoring the young, welcoming strangers, and standing alongside those who suffer. They are practical expressions of Christ’s command to love our neighbors.
Jesus identifies himself with those in need:
“For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in” (Matthew 25:35, NIV).
This passage is striking because Jesus does not merely commend mercy. He identifies with the people receiving it. To serve the vulnerable is, in some mysterious way, to encounter Christ himself.
Mercy as a Means of Grace
For John Wesley, works of mercy were not simply duties. They were means of grace.
In other words, God uses acts of service not only to bless those who receive them but also to transform those who offer them.
This was a radical insight.
Many Christians assume grace flows primarily through worship services or private devotions. Wesley agreed that these are important. Yet he also taught that grace flows through acts of compassion.
When we serve others, our hearts are changed. We begin to see the world differently. We become more attentive to suffering, more aware of our dependence on God, and more capable of loving as Christ loves.
The Example of Jesus
The ministry of Jesus was filled with works of mercy.
He touched lepers.
He fed hungry crowds.
He welcomed outsiders.
He healed the sick.
He comforted the brokenhearted.
His compassion was never separate from his teaching. Mercy was not an interruption to ministry. Mercy was ministry.
When Wesley read the Gospels, he saw a Savior whose holiness was expressed through love in action. Therefore, discipleship must follow the same pattern.
Thomas Oden explains in Classic Christianity that Christian love is always concrete. Genuine faith manifests itself in acts of mercy because God’s love always moves outward toward those in need.
Why Mercy Changes Us
One reason works of mercy are essential to Christian growth is that they expose the limits of our love.
It is easy to love humanity in the abstract. It is harder to love a difficult neighbor, a struggling family member, or a person whose suffering makes us uncomfortable.
Mercy places us face-to-face with real people.
In those encounters, pride is challenged. Self-centeredness is exposed. Compassion deepens.
Kenneth Collins, in The Theology of John Wesley, notes that Wesley viewed holiness as love perfected in practice. Mercy becomes one of the primary places where that love is exercised and strengthened.
Like a muscle that grows through use, love matures through action.
Advocacy and the Love of Neighbor
Works of mercy include not only personal acts of kindness but also concern for conditions that harm human flourishing.
Wesley’s ministry extended beyond individual charity. He advocated for prison reform, opposed slavery, promoted education, and cared deeply about the welfare of the poor.
This concern flowed from theology, not politics. Wesley believed every person bears the image of God and deserves dignity, compassion, and care.
Christian love asks not only, “How can I help this person?” but also, “What contributes to this suffering, and how can I faithfully respond?”
Holding Piety and Mercy Together
One of Wesley’s greatest contributions was his insistence that works of piety and works of mercy belong together.
Prayer without mercy can become self-absorbed. Mercy without prayer can become exhausted.
The Christian life flourishes when devotion to God and love for neighbor nourish one another.
As we pray, we are sent into the world. As we serve, we are drawn back to God. Each strengthens the other.
This is why Wesley refused to separate personal holiness from social holiness. Love of God and love of neighbor are two dimensions of the same grace-filled life.
Growing Through Service
Many Christians ask how they can grow spiritually. Wesley’s answer might surprise us.
Read Scripture. Pray faithfully. Receive Communion regularly.
And then go visit someone who is lonely.
Serve at a food pantry. Help a struggling neighbor. Encourage someone who is grieving. Offer hospitality to a stranger.
In those moments, grace is not only given through you. Grace is given to you.
The Spirit often shapes us most deeply when we step beyond ourselves and participate in Christ’s ministry of mercy.
A Closing Prayer
Merciful God,
Thank you for your compassion toward us.
Open our eyes to those who are hurting, forgotten, or in need.
Teach us to serve with humility,
to love with generosity,
and to seek the good of our neighbors.
Through works of mercy, shape our hearts into the likeness of Christ,
that we may grow in holiness and love.
Amen.
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