It was a mid-summer night last August and there we were, a bunch of white folk serving a hot meal to a bunch of African-American folk in one of the most dangerous neighborhoods in the inner city of Chicago. On most Monday nights this would be the normal for us working with the Night Ministry, but this night was different.
On this particular night 300 miles away in Ferguson Missouri, there were riots taking place after an African-American young man was shot by police after peaceful demonstrations turned ugly with looting, rioting and shootings. To make matters worse this demonstration was taking place on the one year anniversary of another shooting by a police officer.
As we began dishing out food into containers for each person in line, the line was more quiet than normal. We've been serving in this neighborhood for quite awhile and have built relationships with many of those that we come in contact with, so a quiet stillness was not the norm. For myself this would be a night that put everything into perspective as I would pierce into each persons eyes and view a peaceful comfort within each of them as their hearts were filled with hope. Some of their eyes told a story of wonder, a wonder of why can't everyone else be like this. On this night their gratitude was more overwhelming than previous nights. It was a night where black or white did not matter, we were all as one.
In recent days America has seen it's share of violence, racism, and hatred. These are all just components to something more, something greater, something called evil. I find it coincidental or maybe even prophetic that Graham Cooke would eloquently put everything America is facing into perspective just a few days before all of these events happened:
"What is the biggest problem in America? It's not drugs, it's not crime, it's not poverty or low education, it's not terrorism, it's not abortion, it's not the gay community, it's a lack of goodness."
"The bible says we overcome evil with good. It is the goodness and kindness of God that leads people to repentance. Jesus went about and did good and healed all that were oppressed by the devil. It is not our job to call out sin nor judge others. It is our job to call down the grace of God on our community, to be salt and light, to be ambassadors to reconciliation."
That lack of goodness Cooke is referring to here in America is simply a lack of the visibility of The Church within it's community.
Just as Abraham Lincoln said, "A nation divided against itself cannot stand," so it goes for The Church, which is you and I. God never intended for The Church to be divided.
Within America it's time for The Church to put aside it's theological and political differences and be The Church God intended for us to be. The role of the Church is to bring the goodness of God because we overcome evil with good, always. And in case any follower of Christ has forgotten the role of The Church, the Apostle Paul reminds us of it in Ephesians 4:
Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers. 12 Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ. 13 This will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s Son that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ.
Wow, if each of us could even have an ounce of measure as the complete standard of Christ and use what we've been taught to deliver love and hope to those in need, imagine where America would be today. The Apostle Paul goes a little further instructing us to,
15" Instead, speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church. 16 He makes the whole body fit together perfectly. As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love."
Love is the motivating factor. Without love all hope is lost.
Serving the less fortunate within your community is not only an expression of love, but gives people hope. A hope in mankind, a hope for a future.
"Words which do not give the light of Christ increase the darkness."
- Mother Teresa
It's time for America to see that light again.
It's time for The Church to get outside of it's four walls and be that light. If light dispels darkness then we need a whole lotta light.
No comments:
Post a Comment