Prayer # 2

That we get the life-giving, socially-transforming gospel of Jesus Christ out of our sanctuaries and into the streets

Our churches have been formed too much by our culture. I guess that that is to be expected. We are taught that a huge church is a successful church because we think that a huge company is a successful company. The two are not synomous. A growing company has at its centre the growth of profits and the value of its’ shares. They can never be the centre of a church’s aims. As Archbishop William Temple said all those years ago, ‘The church is the only organization that exists for those who are not it’s members’.

And if we are going to apply those standards to today’s mode of thinking, then Jesus, Paul, the disciples and Christians for the first 400 years failed (which they did not). While the number of people who come on a Sunday to church does say something, I am less clear about what! Certainly we do not want no one to come unless everyone were serving the poor, the vulnerable and the needy. But if they were doing those things, I suspect that they would have more reason to gather with their spiritual community for worship and support. Size is not at all meaningful or useful in late, post-Christendom culture, in terms of measuring faithfulness to the proclamation and demonstration of the gospel anymore then size tells us that lots of people like the Rolling Stones.

What we need are signs of the demonstration of the Kingdom’s imminence. What does communicate the effectiveness of a church in what it is trying to achieve are the stories that permeate throughout it…
§ The relationships between people of different age groups, cultures and socio-economic backgrounds
§ The meals shared in each other’s homes
§ The care and interest shown to strangers in the street who are in need
§ The ethics and morality shown to an employer or employee in the workplace
§ The touch of healing power on a wound that has troubled someone for ages
§ The revelation of the Word of God
§ Resources devoted to things that don’t benefit the church
§ Work amongst children, youth and the elderly
§ The provision of education and training so as to help people grow and learn and make a difference in their lives

James said ‘But someone will say, "You have faith; I have deeds." Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do. You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that--and shudder.’ Jas 2:18-19

The church is an easy target in our society, but take it away and you also take away much housing for the most vulnerable; counseling and psychological services to those who are truly ‘captives’ and ‘oppressed’; many of the hospitals across the city; many schools and kindergartens; practical help and advocacy for refugees; you also lose huge welfare organizations like StV’s, the Brotherhood, and of course the Salvation Army; and you had better also expect a lot less advocacy for the poor and vulnerable; and less concern for the Majority world (because World Vision and it’s ilk would also be gone)…

This week is an amazing time in the Christian calendar because of the hope that we learn that death was defeated once and for all. It lost its’ sting. And hope became available for all people through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. This is indeed an event that changed the course of history.