It's a fast-paced world. Technology has brought us to the place where we can get a large portion of what we want instantly. And that has conditioned our thinking about life in general. But spiritual things are not subject to technology.At our local church, we have been working in an inner-city neighborhood for over 2 years now, and the progress is very slow. I wish I could tell you that people began to give their lives to Christ the first week we were there, that all our initiatives were immediately (or even ultimately) successful, that the people we minister to are always grateful and have no sense of entitlement. But that is not true.
Here are a couple things that are true:
- Community outreach is a crockpot-kinda-thing, not a microwave-kinda-thing. People have to know that you genuinely care about them before they will listen to what you have to say. (BTW, "genuinely caring" and trying to sell someone on saying the “sinner’s prayer” are not necessarily the same thing.) Love that reaches out, in order to be believed, has to be long-term, consistent, and frequent.
- Discipleship is ALWAYS a crockpot-kinda-thing.
- Handouts are a decent starting point, but they don't change anything long-term. We have to work towards partnerships and shared responsibilities that help the people being ministered to see their own value, and ultimately, that they are valuable because God has set His love on them. Anytime we bestow dignity on someone who lives without it, we move them closer to the person God created them to be.
- Desperate physical living conditions blind people to their desperate spiritual condition – often they can see nothing but the immediate physical need until it is dealt with.
- It is never a waste to love on people, even if it is refused. It all counts.
- Maintaining energy and enthusiasm on ministry teams is really difficult over the long haul, especially when positive results are slow. Encouraging and exhorting one another is critically important - God gave us each other for a reason.
Our small team here at WorshipFilms is passionate about seeing the community we live and work in transformed by the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We believe it will happen, and that it can happen where you live too, if people who love Jesus Christ will begin to take big risks and set their hearts on loving their neighbors. Start somewhere. Do something today. Then do it again tomorrow and the next day.
