The Church Going to the Homeless…
Here are a couple of examples of the church leaving their buildings in order to serve the homeless:
1. Ben Witherington points us to a NY Times article called “No Altar, No Pews, Not Even a Roof, But Very Much a Church“.
2. John (over at “In the Way“) and some of his friends spend time being the church with and to the homeless in Dallas.
God desires for his church to be salt and light in this world. The church should make a difference in the community. If not, then something is wrong. Are we willing to get up out of our pews and step out of our warm, comfortable buildings in order to meet people where they are? If not, then how will they taste the salt or see the light?
Alan, are you saying that our buildings aren’t the light Jesus was talking about?
Lew,
Yes, that is what I am saying.
-Alan
YES, Alan! This is what Brandon and I are beginning to really see and get a taste of — getting out of our seats and into the streets! Let’s stop playing “church” and let’s just be the salt and light that we are supposed to be!
One thing a very close friend, who also disciples Brandon, once asked him was: “Why are we called salt? What does salt do?” To which Brandon replied the tried and true Baptist answer “It seasons things”. And our friend said, “Yes, but salt also makes you thirsty!!”
That’s who I want to be … someone who makes others thirsty for the Living Water. And sitting inside our 4 walls and worshipping our “services” and our leadership and our programs and our numbers will not make others thirsty for Jesus, it will just make them wary of Him.
Getting off my soapbox now …. (temporarily, I’m sure 😉 )
Lew … LOL!
~Heather
Heather,
God has been convicting me in this area for a few months. My family is working to make some changes so that we will able to serve those outside the “four walls” and outside “church membership”. The experiences that you and Brandon have shared have been extremely encouraging. Please keep blogging about what God is doing in your life.
-Alan
Alan,
As you know, this has been an ongoing theme for Heather and I.
Our church is in the process of being “given” a building in a somewhat inner city area of Atlanta. We’re pretty excited about the community that the church is located in.
Some of our members have seen the building. One commented that we needed to paint the steeple and then put some spotlights on it. I looked at him and said, “I think we should take the steeple off the building, if it takes a steeple for the people to know it’s a church then it’s not a church.”
I think he thinks I’ve lost my mind…praise God I think he’s right!!!
Be blessed…
Brandon
oops… Ahem, Heather and me.
Brandon
Brandon,
There is a lot to say for the aesthetics of a building… but you won’t find any of it said in Scripture about the meeting location of the church. Keep your focus on the people and watch God work through you!
-Alan