Last evening I attended an interesting meeting at a church in Halifax County, North Carolina. It was presented to me as a “revival” service. What a wonderful gathering of Christians from all over the county. People of various backgrounds, and races were worshipping together. A wonderful experience! At the conclusion of the worship time one adult lady came forward to receive Christ into her life. All who attended were glad they were present. This gathering of almost 200 people witnessed a life changing miracle. I am glad I attended.
Today as I reflect upon the experience I believe that the event did not reach its goal. You see, the goal as it was presented to me, was “to reach the gang members in town for Christ.” Particular emphasis was placed upon the reaching of gang members that have invaded this small community in Halifax County. Over and over in the worship service the preacher referred to the gathering as a gathering of “disciples.” Meaning the room was full of church folks. I did not witness the presence of anyone looking as if they belonged to a gang, yet noticed church vans and folks dressed in church clothes proudly carrying their Bibles to the service.
The night before, the leaders of this event compelled the faithful to meet and blanket the community with brochures inviting everyone to the worship service. It was impressive sights to see believers from different congregations give out some 950 brochures to the community. I live in that town on a middle class street with well manicured lawns and wondered why no one came on my street to leave a brochure with our neighbors. Then I remembered “this service is to reach gang members.”
Rumor was the preacher for the evening was enlisted because of his testimony of being involved in gang activity and what Christ had done for him personally. I actually was attracted to attend the event out of curiosity and showed up to hear his testimony. I never heard the testimony from the preacher. He didn’t tell us much about his journey and I left the event somewhat disappointed. I hoped for some encouraging words for myself in this worship service but really just heard the same old stuff you hear in a gathering of evangelicals.
So why did we meet? So that dear lady would have opportunity to accept Christ into her life. Period. That is it. Nothing more. That in itself is reason to meet for worship. It is not the fault of the preacher and those who were asked to lead the event. They were present and were obedient to their task.
This leaves me in wondering why someone felt that gang members in an “inner-city” setting would actually come to a church service in a middle-class part of town where the membership is white and middle-classed. I guess it could be accomplished, but not this time.
Secondly, is having a “revival” service the best we can do to reach gang members for Christ? I wonder why the idea of actually going to where the gangs are located was not included in the planning discussion. “Revival” services are pleasant memories of the past when we lived in a 20th century where evangelistic services actually worked to reach people. Is an old fashioned “revival” service something that still reaches people? Yes, it did last night with the one person who responded to the Gospel. Did the “revival” service reach the gang population in Halifax County last night? Sadly, no.
I hope that churches will begin to think outside the box, in the future, when they are prompted by God to do something for Him. I hope they will think carefully about what God would have them do before they fall back on the comfortable. Saying we are going to have church at such and such time, inviting people to the event, and printing brochures is a rather comfortable thing to do. It requires a lot of work and is fairly easy for success. Going to the neighborhood and actually risking a bit to talk to a gang member might be more of an uncomfortable thing to do for God.
Henry Blackaby in Experiencing God speaks of the “God Sized Tasks” that God calls us to do. I don’t doubt the reaching of this town and its gang population is a “God sized task.” I believe God’s call is clear and he wants the churches in the community to take on this task. Putting the right action to the task is where we all need help.
I am pleased that the churches that participated in worship last night do more than meet. These same people meet often to provide food to the needy, and clothes, and diapers to those who need them. The meeting of these needs will eventually affect the gang member in some way. These churches are right on target in meeting the needs of the poor and needy. Our challenge is to prayerfully listen to God, those gang members, and community members before acting. Then the quality of what we do for Him will be more affective.
LaCount Anderson serves as Global Field Personnel for the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship in northeastern NC.
2 comments:
What if we took a page from Jesus (who said the way to be great was to serve, and the way to love was to lay your life down for your friends, and the path to the kingdom of God goes through the cross) and said to the gang members - We will love you. And then we did that.
What if we went out of our way to go to the street corners and talk to them - with no agenda, other than to get to know them? What if we threw a party for them on their birthdays? What if we got to know who they are, and visited them when they were in the hospital with a gunshot wound? What if we treated them like individual children of God, instead of the enemy? What if we let them know by word and deed that we are safe, that they cannot shock us and that there is nothing they can do to make us not love them? What if someone, because of this friendship told us they wanted out of the gang, and we were as willing to fund their escape as we are to support whatever political candidate is against abortion this year or the building fund or buying that second car? What if they decided to stay in the gang, and we said we still love you anyway?
I imagine such an undertaking would take years - perhaps generations. It would cost significant time and money. It would cause us to risk our personal safety and challenge our comfort zones. It would mean being seen with disreputable people and might even, in extreme cases, cost us our life. It would surely shape how the church budget is allocated and where the new church building is built.
Our suffering would send a clear message: You can do whatever you want to us, and we will love you. That sounds a lot like the cross to me. Jesus called it the Kingdom of God.
We see ourselves as the 'victim' of the gangs - I understand that. But when we make it about 'us' versus 'them' we have abandoned the way of Jesus. That is the way Caesar handles things. The way of Jesus seeks to win over the oppressor, in addition to offering succor to the oppressed. And we will never win them over by telling them to come to us.
Thanks Hugh. That is why I like to be around you....you think like Jesus. I appreciate your insight!
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