Today on my lunch outing, I rode with a colleague trying to find the Popeye’s chicken on this side of town. In our lost-but-not-really-lost exploration we drove down Valleydale, in the coolness of the beautiful day. My eyes darted left to right, right to left, somehow trying to capture the entire scene.
Beautiful subdivisions with regal names mounted on brick entrance signs and upscale fonts (with houses i want to live in but not pay for). Two golf courses. Most of this hidden by large areas of tall green forest areas that open up abruptly to 4-stop retail areas “within short driving distance” (with my real estate agent sales pitch cheerful voice) from the residential properties complete with shopping malls, drug stores, and restaurants.
Ever so often, we’d hit a clearing on either side of the two-lane road that held churches, of all denominations. Some we had very tall steeples, towering above the freshly painted parking lots, empty during the weekday work hour as we drove by, but no doubt complete with an educational wing and probably a community center wing. Some very small, one or two room edifices, one story, freshly painted. Coming across so many churches on this one road during our 10 minute drive made me think about my community and my church and all the churches that I passed on the daily basis and their significance and role in the communities in which they sit. Two things came to mind:
1. What’s the point of having a church in a community it doesn’t serve? Why need does the community have need for it?
In the Bible, Jesus tells the people in Matthew 11:28 “Come unto me, all ye that are weary and heavy labored and I will give you rest.”
Although I’m a member of a local congregation, I pass a gazillion churches on my way to my place of worship. I also pass by several communities. I wonder just how many weary, heavy laden spirits reside in these communities I’ve passed by today on Valleydale, and other days in my own community, and in the community where my church is.
I cannot speak for the churches I passed today, but out of the 5 or 6 churches (and I’m sure there are more) in my neighborhood, I can only recall two churches in my surrounding neighborhood that I have every received any correspondence from. How can I, their neighbor, one less than a half a mile away, receive the message of hope, peace, joy, and happiness and get what I need if I never step inside of those 4 walls? How many people, within walking distance of a church are on the verge of losing it, just needing to hear something from someone that can uplift their spirit, give wisdom about a decision, and generally make them feel better about life? Will I hear the message at all? Maybe. Maybe not.
A story comes to mind that I heard yesterday on NPR. The reporter went around asking people what they thought about when they thought about Barack Obama. They’re answers all included one resounding word: hope. Barack Obama gave them hope. One person brought hope to the masses. That’s powerful and profound. You are one person. Look at what is possible when one person reaches out to people around them. Grant it, we don’t have the money to run the “campaign” if you will, but we do have access to the community by virtue of being apart of it. I believe many churches are short armed in that they are not reaching out.
Just imagine what could happen if we…
asked Mrs. Johnson, whose house is an eye sore in the neighborhood because it needs a paint job, if she minded if we painted her home?
offered a ride to the mean elderly lady next door to the church to the Piggly Wiggly down the street to pick up her groceries and brought her back and help her unload them
What if we risked being involved…?
2. We don’t need another church building or another church expansion project.
Do we have more in common than are willing to admit?
What we need to is fill the one we got with services people can use and unite with others to be of service to communities we sit in. If there are 6 churches on one street all having Vacation Bible School, wouldn’t it save resources, reach more at once, and foster more fellowship if we had them all together?
There's got to be some way we can reduce the redundancy and consolidate church congregations. Are we all so different in how we believe and how we chose to worship that we need so many churches on one road to accommodate us all? Are these huge beautiful edifices really a testament to discipleship and communion or are they an example of just how divided the body of Christ is. (speaking from a Christian perspective)
We’ve expended great effort and resources and have done an excellent job at building architecturally strong edifices in which to gather in.
But how much effort and resources are we or are we willing to expend, in financial capital and human resources, in building up the hearts of people who live daily outside of that place of worship?
Just a thought that came to me while we were lost, trying to find Popeye’s and the 2 piece and a biscuit $1.99 special…
"There is a way, no matter what they say..."
Mos Def
Beautiful subdivisions with regal names mounted on brick entrance signs and upscale fonts (with houses i want to live in but not pay for). Two golf courses. Most of this hidden by large areas of tall green forest areas that open up abruptly to 4-stop retail areas “within short driving distance” (with my real estate agent sales pitch cheerful voice) from the residential properties complete with shopping malls, drug stores, and restaurants.
Ever so often, we’d hit a clearing on either side of the two-lane road that held churches, of all denominations. Some we had very tall steeples, towering above the freshly painted parking lots, empty during the weekday work hour as we drove by, but no doubt complete with an educational wing and probably a community center wing. Some very small, one or two room edifices, one story, freshly painted. Coming across so many churches on this one road during our 10 minute drive made me think about my community and my church and all the churches that I passed on the daily basis and their significance and role in the communities in which they sit. Two things came to mind:
1. What’s the point of having a church in a community it doesn’t serve? Why need does the community have need for it?
In the Bible, Jesus tells the people in Matthew 11:28 “Come unto me, all ye that are weary and heavy labored and I will give you rest.”
Although I’m a member of a local congregation, I pass a gazillion churches on my way to my place of worship. I also pass by several communities. I wonder just how many weary, heavy laden spirits reside in these communities I’ve passed by today on Valleydale, and other days in my own community, and in the community where my church is.
I cannot speak for the churches I passed today, but out of the 5 or 6 churches (and I’m sure there are more) in my neighborhood, I can only recall two churches in my surrounding neighborhood that I have every received any correspondence from. How can I, their neighbor, one less than a half a mile away, receive the message of hope, peace, joy, and happiness and get what I need if I never step inside of those 4 walls? How many people, within walking distance of a church are on the verge of losing it, just needing to hear something from someone that can uplift their spirit, give wisdom about a decision, and generally make them feel better about life? Will I hear the message at all? Maybe. Maybe not.
A story comes to mind that I heard yesterday on NPR. The reporter went around asking people what they thought about when they thought about Barack Obama. They’re answers all included one resounding word: hope. Barack Obama gave them hope. One person brought hope to the masses. That’s powerful and profound. You are one person. Look at what is possible when one person reaches out to people around them. Grant it, we don’t have the money to run the “campaign” if you will, but we do have access to the community by virtue of being apart of it. I believe many churches are short armed in that they are not reaching out.
Just imagine what could happen if we…
asked Mrs. Johnson, whose house is an eye sore in the neighborhood because it needs a paint job, if she minded if we painted her home?
offered a ride to the mean elderly lady next door to the church to the Piggly Wiggly down the street to pick up her groceries and brought her back and help her unload them
What if we risked being involved…?
2. We don’t need another church building or another church expansion project.
Do we have more in common than are willing to admit?
What we need to is fill the one we got with services people can use and unite with others to be of service to communities we sit in. If there are 6 churches on one street all having Vacation Bible School, wouldn’t it save resources, reach more at once, and foster more fellowship if we had them all together?
There's got to be some way we can reduce the redundancy and consolidate church congregations. Are we all so different in how we believe and how we chose to worship that we need so many churches on one road to accommodate us all? Are these huge beautiful edifices really a testament to discipleship and communion or are they an example of just how divided the body of Christ is. (speaking from a Christian perspective)
We’ve expended great effort and resources and have done an excellent job at building architecturally strong edifices in which to gather in.
But how much effort and resources are we or are we willing to expend, in financial capital and human resources, in building up the hearts of people who live daily outside of that place of worship?
Just a thought that came to me while we were lost, trying to find Popeye’s and the 2 piece and a biscuit $1.99 special…
"There is a way, no matter what they say..."
Mos Def
1 comment:
*smile*
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