Extra Mile

Going the Extra Mile

In the days of the Roman Empire, it was law that, should a Roman soldier become tired or simply if he wanted a bit of a rest, then he could commandeer any passer-by who was not a Roman citizen to carry his load or back pack for a mile. In my imagination, I can envisage the expression “going the extra mile” as meaning the mile long walk back again after you had carried his load for a mile. See what I mean ??

Nowadays, going the extra mile has a slightly different meaning. It is no longer a physical thing. In most instances, it means doing that little bit more than you were asked or staying with something until completion even though we are not asked or paid to do so. I think it is probably an ideal name for a Christian ministry – The Extra Mile Ministry – sounds all right doesn’t it?

One of the characteristics that marks a Christian out from the crowd is cheerfulness and optimism in the face of difficulties or hardship. Paul often spoke about the “joy of suffering”, the “joys of being persecuted for Jesus’ sake”, or counting everything rubbish compared to the “joy of salvation”. That’s rather a lot of joy isn’t it? And basically, the huge majority of Christians have forgotten the joy of living in all the complexities and hardships of everyday life. We seem more than capable of letting the enemy grind us down with the misery of living in this present hostile world. How many cheerful people can you count in your church? I have to say we have a few in ours and they are like a breath of fresh air just to meet them.

What marks the cheerful people out even more is their willingness to go that extra mile for anyone who needs a bit of a helping hand. And, may I say this as a matter of fact and not of any kind of prejudice, the ones who will always do this are the precious saints who have very little to share but they will always be willing to share whatever they have with whoever needs it. The more well of people are, it seems to me, the more reluctant to part with any their hard earned plenty. It is almost as if they are scared to lose what they have fought so hard for. As Jesus said, “Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” Matthew 19:14 – Mark 10:25 – Luke 18:25

Perhaps this is what separates the Eastern persecuted church from the Western profitable and wealthy church? Certainly, the Western churches, on the whole, support many wonderful missions both financially and with goods and hardware. Yet the Eastern church, despite the persecution, seems to have much more fervency, greater giving power, (per capita), and far greater outreach, planting, and  growth. There is more joy in their churches. They go that extra mile with great joy at being able to serve their Saviour even a little bit.

Is it not time for all of us to reconsider our going that extra mile again and again and again – and doing so with the joy of our Saviour in our hearts. The joy of serving Him and our fellow man seems in fairly short supply in Europe and America right now.

We have taken the Gospel to  almost every nation we can think of, and now those nations all seem to be sending missionaries back to us to teach us what we once taught them. Is there a lesson for us to learn in this?

That makes you think a little bit – surely??