A few days ago I posted a video about a church community serving well in their city. It probably didn't paint a full picture of what is going on there and I don't have all the information about their situation. You can go back and watch the video if you would like. I simply wanted to commend what I saw as a good way of seeking to be intentional with those who don't know Jesus.
This post got some push-back in the comments. Maybe rightly since we don't have all the information about what is really going on behind the scenes in the video. My greater point was to highlight the intentionality that is on display. To me, it seems that serving is a great way to do this. Sounds pretty biblical, eh?
At The Vine, my small group has been volunteering at the local crisis pregnancy center and serving women there who are pregnant, young, and scared. They are mainly black women who come from extremely rough backgrounds. After a year we have seen two of these black women come into our small group. One has become a Christian and just last night I explicitly shared the Gospel with another as we chatted on the couch after our small group.
All we did was show up and serve. Once a month with some food. Very simple and easy. But when we show up God goes with us as we are filled with his Holy Spirit. Who knows where that is going to lead? I had zero expectations. It could have been a complete failure. Maybe it will be in the future but we are going to stick with it right now. These women need Jesus and where else are they going to go to get him?
We just showed up to serve. Service usually leads to relationships being built. When relationships are built it's easy to share Jesus. How could we not talk about what is most important to us with those who know us?
So lead me ask you, Holy Spirit filled believer, where are you intentionally showing up and seeking to make Jesus known through your relationships of service and love? You might not like the video above because it deals with "sodomites" and seems to reek of the "social gospel". Great. But let's hear from you about your approach to living among the lost. Honestly, I'm all ears and I have much to learn. There are probably a thousand ways to do this.
No one is above critique. There are certainly wrong ways to go about evangelism and service. Just make sure that we don't get rebuked by D.L. Moody in conversations like this in reference to evangelism: "I like my way of doing it better than your way of not doing it."
2 comments:
I wish now I'd have commented when you posted the video. I liked it, yet on the same day I also read a CNN piece on the Mark Driscoll book controversy and one of the comments was,
"Oh how I wished people would get the guts to throw away the bible, just commit to being a good person without the need of the social organizations called churches. Image if on sunday all the church goeres would spend that hour doing a good deed for someone else or instead of donating to a "church" give a donation to Planned Parenthood for birth control to stop the need of abortions."
What I enjoyed about your post today was when you mentioned (I'm paraphrasing a bit) that service leads to building relationships and out of that relationship, how can you not talk about what is most important to you?
Sadly, I think it is easier to feel content in doing random acts of service without the engagement in ongoing relationships.
I live in an "unchurched' city. Statistically, it is probably worse than Portland. I attend a church that is "outward focused" and I agree with it, but I have to say that I have wondered: Is anything really going to come out of this?"
I recently read a book called God is Red about Christianity thriving in Communist China and it encouraged me that it really is both: word and deed, and that our deeds give weight to words, even if it is 50 or 100 years later. Our service shows our love for people and that makes an impact, even if we won't see that impact for years to come.
(feel free to edit or delete my post; I know I get a bit lengthy and boring).
Gosh! And I thought all along (with much of the evangelical world) that more show, better music, and cool stuff like a coffee shop in church would make people come to us (so we don't have to go to them)....I've been fooled again! Glad you're doing this, good sir.
(Sorry for the tone. Not directed at you, Zachary. Just at the evangelical "group think" in general.)
KyKy
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