As I reflect on my love for my community, in terms of the physical
gathering of human beings that live within five miles of my house, it
makes me homesick. As I write this, I am almost 8000 miles from home,
as the bird flies. I do not live in a perfect place - far from it - in
fact there are aspects of the city I call home that are just detestable -
but it is a place that I have embraced nonetheless. It is home.
Across the years, I have lived in ten cities. Of the ten, I fell in
love with all but one. Ironically I was sent to the one as a United
Methodist pastor, and it was about the worst job I ever did trying to
pastor anybody or anything.
I work about two
thirds of my professional time with church planters and the whole
enterprise of planting new faith communities. We we have a rule about
this kind of ministry and task - that unless a person and their family
are ready to embrace and fall in love with the place where they are
planting the church, it will be a long painful slog. So in my
denomination, where bishops often appoint people to plant churches, we
warn the bishops that this is a special kind of appointment - likely to
fail unless the person sent really digs the place.
But
to a significant degree, this is really true of all church leaders in
all situations, lay and clergy. Show me a church where the key leaders
of the church really don't love the people of the community around them,
and I will show you an at-risk congregation! An endangered species!
Quite possibly a fortress or a pilgrimage site for the descendants of
the folks who used to live in the neighborhood.
Do you love your neighborhood? What would it take for you and your church to fall in love again with it?
Thanks Paul, for your perpective of loving your neighborhood. I talked this morning with a pastor who is recognizing that the church's ministry to the children of their community is very different and more diverse than it has been in the past. There are those who are struggling with this difference, mainly because these new children are not "our" children. However, God is calling us to reach God's children! What does this look like in your community?
ReplyDelete