THE JOURNEY SO FAR

A comment on Ruth's Discovery blog really struck a chord with me. I liked Brandon Wellcome's clarification that involvement in our society moves us from "announcing" the Gospel to "demonstrating" it. It seems to me that the most difficult challenge of the modern church is learning how to develop a favorable reputation in their community as neighbors who love God and their neighbors as themselves. I'm not talking marketing a caring image here. I mean the neighborhood knows we're crazy about God, and crazy about them.

North Point Community Church does a good job of describing a relational cycle they hope will lead people into a growing relationship with God. They speak of helping guests to their church feel welcome (They call these "foyer" activities.) They speak about turning guests into friends in environments referred to as a type of "living room". And they seek to help friends become family around activities around a "kitchen" type environment. And I think churches are relatively effective in these situations. Where churches aren't quite so at home is at one final part of the cycle, being part about the neighborhood.

If the church is a family, it has a reputation in the "neighborhood" where it lives. We live in a society where church attendance is an exception rather than the "norm". What, apart from our interaction in the "neighborhood" and our good reputation would make any self-respecting seeker knock on our virtual "front door"?

Every family has a neighborhood reputation. They might be the local activist always getting petitions circulated, the grouches with the guard dogs or the ones who seem to have an open door and a kid magnet installed that draws the under 10 population into their place like some kind of Pied Piper. The kind of neighbor you are determines how willing your neighbors are to get to know you.

The members of the church in Acts were known for their devotion to learning God's Word, to sharing life with one other, to being identified with Christ and to depending on God through prayer. They where known for God's power evidenced in their lives, for their unity and unselfishness, for their glad and sincere hearts, for their praise for God, for their generosity, for their daily involvement the community and in each other's lives, and for their favor among the people. And yes, they got people's attention in part thanks to the miraculous signs and wonders God performed through them. (Acts 2:43)

What I'm getting at is this. The church needs to be so into their world that people see the Gospel lived out before their eyes as well as hear it. Every selfless thought, word and act that I've ever been a part of is a miricle...a God thing. Each time, God broke through the selfish, sinful person I am and did something wonderful... something amazing. And when that starts happening in our neighborhoods, get ready for the doorbell to ring.