Visiting the Orphan.

One of the more difficult tasks we encountered in launching this ministry was choosing a name. A name is both significant and insignificant at the same time. On the one hand, it is often the very first thing people encounter when discovering you and should communicate who you are concisely and clearly. On the other hand, the substance of who you are makes the name more than the name makes you. 

Think of the notable brand names you know. The name communicates something clear because of what the organization has accomplished rather than because of what the word itself means. The word ‘apple’ didn’t impact the character of the company as much as the accomplishments of the company impacted the meaning of that word in our minds.

Still we struggled with choosing a name, but in the end a name presented itself which I believe communicates who we are as much as it will be impacted what we will accomplish. And our hope is that both of these will align perfectly.

James 1:27 says, “Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to VISIT orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.”

The Bible tells us that pure and undefiled religion – the kind that pleases the Lord – is to visit the orphans and widows in their distress. We often hear sermons about keeping oneself unstained by the world, but how often do we hear about visiting the orphan and the widow?

For us the word ‘visit’ often carries a casual connotation. It means to stop in, or have a casual conversation. It’s what I do with my neighbor while I water my lawn. A light conversation that will hardly be remembered once it is finished. It is pleasant, short, and largely meaningless.

But the Greek word for visit means much more.

Visit = gr. Episkeptomai          to look upon or after, to inspect, examine with the eyes;

                                    to look upon in order to help or to benefit

                                    to look after, care for, provide for

It is the same word used in Matthew when Jesus says, “I was a stranger, and you did not invite Me in; naked, and you did not clothe Me; sick, and in prison, and you did not visit Me.” And it is the word often used when God speaks of Him visiting His people (Luke 1:68). These words do not at all mean casual visits, but seeking out those in need and providing care. In Hebrews 2:6 it is translated ‘concern’ saying, “What is man, that you think of him? Or a son of man, that you are concerned about him?”

This is the word God uses when he commands us to VISIT the orphan and the widow in their distress; when He tells us that THIS is the kind of religion that pleases Him. It’s not our singing, or piety, or religious observances that cause Him pleasure, as much as visiting the orphan and widow.

What does this mean?

First, it means that we go to where they are. We leave the comfort and predictability of our world and enter into the chaos and pain of their world. The church is often guilty of waiting for them to come to us. And then we require that they become like us before we will accept them in. Clean up, be quiet, behave and then you may enter. This is a grievous sin.

Second, it means that we must minister to them in whatever state we find them in. James says that we must visit them in their distress. The question is, what are people like when they are in distress? We can say one thing confidently – it won’t be comfortable. If you’ve ever witnessed a person in distress you know the chaos, the confusion, the conflict that accompanies it. 

This is the state we are to visit them and minister to them in. We aren’t given the option to wait for the chaos to subside, for the pain to lessen, or for the situation to be safer, cleaner, and more manageable.

To visit the orphans and widows in their distress means to seek them out, to find them where they are, and to care for them in whatever state you find them in.

These teen centers are a way for the church to seek and find these young people where they are; to leave the comfort of our world and enter into the chaos and brokenness of their world. And then to minister to them in the state we find them in. And ‘distress’ is exactly the state that many of our young people are in. They are devastated by a world that wants their destruction.

Too many churches wait for young people to come to them. But the truth is they’re not coming ­– we must go to them. We must VISIT them in their distress.

This is our name. This is our mission. This is what we want to help you to do.