Rap artist Lecrae has a song called 'Send Me'. Amoungst the gritty real life lyrics there are these few pointed lines:
hey! After, 1,000 years in the west and the churchesget'n bigger daily without understand'n worship. (say what?)
Some regenerate but a lot ain't saved.
You walk outside and be surprised cuz the block ain't changed.
I met a guy named Eddy a few weeks ago. Eddy stands in front of the local grocery store from time to time and asks people for food or cash donations to help feed hungry families. Eddy is an employed individual who volunteers his time to change his 'block'.
I am reading a book called "Community: Taking your small group off life support" by Brad House. This morning I came across this:"Jesus rebukes religious people who see the culture's needs and do nothing to meet them. Too often, the people of God justify ignoring the needs of others. We offer our sympathy and prayers, but don't actually pray nor do we try to help. We assume it is someone else's responsibility. Others just pretend the problems don't exist. We hide behind ignorance. We don't know what the needs are in our community because we don't want to know."Next time you attend church take a second to stand in the parking lot and take a look at (1) your church building/grounds and then (2) the greater area around your church. Has the group of people known as the 'Church' done anything to change the 'block'? Does the group of people who claim to follow Christ (known as the Church) have any awareness of the needs of the community? Or do things like personal safety, boundaries, race, religion, political affiliation, pet theologies, education (too much or not enough), religious practice, time, etc. serve as feeble barriers to carrying out the Great Commission?
Survey the 'blocks' in your life: work, church, neighborhood. church. Now, through the work of the Holy Spirit, how can you help change those blocks?
