Little has been said about the right and proper role of the local church in the development of their communities. Are churches mini- development agencies, members of a civil society, or something else altogether?
The church (universal) has lost some of it’s focus these past generations and is in the process of acting instead of action. We put on a good show. We say the right things when we use action words… most of the time. We know when to stand and sit. We have been “trained” with the right responses.
The way of the church today is a way, but are we going the right way? R.C Sproul said” Falsehood is, truth twisted and distorted”. The church (universal) in general has varied in different directions as seen on the outside of each church found on their signs. We are divided into denominations. Which by definition is a recognized autonomous branch of the Christian church.
We the church (universal) have gone out and done transformational development. This is a good start. Yet, there is more to doing than just acting. We need to begin to think and pick up the theological side of our work again.
Who are we? We are human beings and as Christians we are to profess that we are human both male and female made in the image of God, correct? If you are reading this, I can assume you are in agreement. Yet, we forget sometimes that the God in whose image we are made in is the Three in one God, the God who is communion, the rational God. This means that our individual self can never be itself apart from our being-in-communion with God and other people. We are embedded into relationships, and we find meaning in said relationships.
Do these relationships start and end at our church doors? Doors of our homes? At one time were we not strangers to one another?
What begins a relationship is the love of a common thing, thought, or belief. Those that love sports ban together to root or boo a team. Those that love to read start a book club. Those that share the same passions spend times together in that said passion.
What if we, not the local or universal church, but we the church took a stand, spoke up, put our words into action and started to truly be the church? Would not the world change, yes in our own little part of it, but a small change can lead to a bigger change, that change can become an eye-opening movement within our communities and each community can influence the next.
Playing off the words of John F. Kennedy instead of asking what the church can do for me, maybe we need to start asking what can we do for the church (the people)? What if one day the church left the building and stopped acting and started doing?
There was a time when sharing our faith was of such great importance that the church as a whole devoted much of its resources to make sure we would know how to do it correctly. You remember the question: “If you died today do you think you would be spending eternity in heaven or hell?” This was a direct and to the point question. Then some people saw this line of witnessing as something that might run people off. So there came a new idea of witnessing called “The Friendship Evangelism Movement”. One must form a friendship first then ease into the evangelism part. This was a great idea on paper but as the book of Proverbs said so well “Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring” Proverbs 27:1. James built on that saying “What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes” James 4:14.
What if tomorrow comes and all we have is today? Can a friendship be formed that quickly? I say No! What we need to do is show love in our words and in our actions. How does the song go “They will know we are Christians by our love, we will go hand in hand, we will work with each other”.
So, when it comes to helping and loving others, we do so because we are called to do so by the Lord our God and Creator.
Which brings me to the point of helping and loving others. As a church (body of believers) we are given different gifts and talents. Some have been blessed monetarily. Others are blessed with what I call the gift of gab meaning they can openly talk and engage with others easily. We need both in order to accomplish helping others.
I encourage you as you read this to know it is not about money. Anyone can throw money at a situation and walk away. I am talking about investing in the work of kingdom building.
There are many times we will make mistakes and lose focus on what God has put on our path in life. We will overlook the downtrodden. Eat a meal while walking to our next thing to do and miss the hungry person. We will forget about the prayer we told someone we would say because we did not take the time to pray right then with the person. The good thing is that God does not expect us to be perfect because he knows we cannot be. This is what Jesus came to do. This is the thing he came to teach us all about. He came to give us an example of how to live.
So, I end with these words my friends: To be a Christian is to model our lives after the example of Jesus Christ. To speak with loving words to build others up. To listen with open ears when someone wants to share their life with us. To give when and where we can. Most of all though it is to see each other as God sees us all… His marvelous creation that he made in his image.
Pastor Brian
Leave a Reply