"The Spirit of the Lord is on me because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor."--Luke 4:18-19 NIV
To paraphrase a familiar gospel song, "If we ever needed the Church before, we sure do need it now." Especially now, in the face of increasing wickedness, sin, hopelessness and peril. Have you taken a look at the world lately? The Church, which was founded on the Gospel of Jesus Christ, has a God-given mandate to be the difference maker in people's lives by telling them about Jesus. When Jesus walked the earth more than 2000 years ago, he put hurting, destitute and lost souls first on his agenda; and that agenda has never changed. In fact, he passed it on to his Church to fulfill in this age. As Christ's ambassadors, we represent him in the world (2 Cor 5:20). What's more, Christ gave power to the Church to finish the work he started: "I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father"--John 14:12.
But is the Church doing greater things to the extent that it should be? For example, in some neighborhoods, churches share the block with drug dealers, prostitutes and bars. Who do you think should have a greater influence on the community? One would hope the answer would be--the Church; but sadly that is not always the case. In spite of the Church's presence, many communities have become battlegrounds for good vs evil. So we ask, "What should be the Church's response?" Well, it would be foolish for the Church to engage in open confrontation with the criminal elements of our society. But neither should the Church yield its territory to them without a fight. When a Church, empowered by the Holy Spirit, is active in its community that community should be noticeably different from all those around it. For example, when I was growing up in Baltimore, the local newspaper sponsored a "Clean Block" campaign to beautify inner-city neighborhoods by enlisting neighbors to keep sidewalks and streets free of trash and debris. Block captains were chosen to make sure each household kept their trash picked up and their white marble steps clean. Each week, a picture of the winning block was featured in the newspaper and a banner hung over the winning block so that everyone would know that this is a clean block and no trash is allowed.
Likewise, the Church must make its mark by using the transforming power of the gospel to clean up the streets, and bring life back into the communities it serves. This is not a monumental task considering our weapons (2 Cor 10:3-5). These weapons are faith, prayer and the word of our testimony (witness). The enemy cannot stand in their wake. So then, what's stopping the Church? The problem is TRADITION. Tradition says it is easier to drop money in the collection plate than to lace up our tennis shoes and hit the streets to witness to people where they are. We give monetary contributions to help fund God's work, but it takes hands and feet to accomplish it. And that is what's lacking in the Church today--sufficient hands and feet willing to go into the highways and byways after the lost. Jesus observed in Luke 10:12: " The harvest is great, but the workers are few. So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest. Ask him to send more workers into his fields."
We must rid the Church of its "If we build it, they will come" attitude. The Church cannot assume that the poor, who sleep within our gates against winter's cold or summer's heat, will one day walk through our doors unless we give them a compelling reason to come inside. In short, we must go out after them. Look at what radical extremism has produced in the Middle East--a kind of religious fervor that is spreading like wildfire. Imagine what the Church could accomplish if we would embrace the religious fervor of the early Christians and become radical extremists for Christ. With this attitude, the Church could win souls, change lives and transform whole communities. This kind of radical change starts with each one of us. What change do you want to see in your block? In your family? On your job? What are you doing, besides complaining, to bring about the changes you would like to see? Have you looked at the man or woman in your mirror lately? Before complaining about how bad things are getting ask what have I done to make things better? The Church needs every believer to help win communities for Christ.
