“I tell you the truth, whatever you did for the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.” Matthew 25:4.

I love the slogan “Serving God’s purpose in our Generation”, but what are its real implications? Competing offers can easily confuse the heart and mind of a seeker, and one can easily find oneself lost in the attempt to serve or eventually give up trying.

Some years ago the question of how to serve God meaningfully would urge me to mostly abstract, doctrinal, itemized, black-and-white theological conclusions. Nowadays it leads me to a different place: one where a follower of Jesus is called to be a catalyst for change, ‘the salt and the light of the earth’ (Matthew 5:13-16). And where a fellowship of believers, rather than being an exclusive club for the self-righteous, is making a difference in their communities as God’s ambassadors of healing and restoration.

Here are a few tips that reflect on my perspective about the place of a fellowship that seeks to serve God’s purpose in this generation.

It builds a community of friends that is not fenced or contaminated by political, ethnic, national, racial and religious agendas. It nurtures a culture of empathy, forgiveness, reconciliation, peacemaking and serving one another. It pursues justice with love and compassion. It cares about the poor, neglected and oppressed. It pursues the truth and values that are not shaped or driven by celebrities, entertainment and media industry, or pop-science. Above all, such fellowship seeks to understand the mind and the heart of Jesus in all matters of life, and forms a culture of life that will not become consumed by or subjected to the cultures of the world.

The tips are not conclusive, but they feature a fair bit of what ought to be the mission of us who dare be Jesus’ salt and the light to the world today.