A Community Without You

Here’s a question:  If your church closed its doors today, would anyone care?

I’d like for you to take a moment and think about that………  What affect does your presence really have on the community?  Would anyone notice if tomorrow you weren’t there?  Would there be an outcry among the town if your ministry suddenly ceased to exist?

Jeremy Kiner

These questions, albeit rhetorical in nature, really do demand answers.  Honest answers.  Answers that probably only you know as a pastor or as a leader in your church.

These questions aren’t meant to be critical, nor is my asking them an insinuation that your ministry isn’t doing anything of significance for others.  Not at all.  They are more an inquisition of my own heart.  As I reflect on my personal involvement in the community over this past year, and now prepare for the new year, I am asking myself these very questions, not out of guilt or wishing I could have done more, but out of a desire to simply matter.

Here’s another question:  What are you in the business of doing?

Are you simply doing a “ministry”? Or are you ministering to needs? Are you busying yourself with the Lord’s work? Or are you “being about my Father’s business”?  Subtle nuances in the questions, but major implications in the answers.

I’m sure you would agree, we want to do things that add value to the Kingdom and that truly make a difference in the world we live.  Anything less than this seems, well, pointless.

The fact is, ministries come and go all the time and no one notices.  No one really cares.  However, when our influence is felt beyond just the pulpit and four walls of our church buildings, we have the opportunity to change the landscape around us, and for the better.  When our efforts and resources reach inside and throughout the community, we move from being a potential asset to becoming a meaningful value-added – not just to individuals, but also to City Hall, the school district, the marketplace, etc.

Today, I want to challenge you to be a church that matters to the community!  Be known for your incredible love and care for others. When lives are impacted and hearts are transformed by your ministry – especially when it’s among those that don’t even attend your church – it leaves an indelible impression. When people encounter something “out of this world,” they just don’t forget it.

Final question:  Can our community live without the Jesus you bring?

When I read the Gospels, I see a man that was in the business of changing lives.  I see the hungry fed, the demoniacs freed, the dead risen, the sick healed, the sinners forgiven.  It’s a story of real transformation occurring wherever Jesus is.  May the same be said of our own ministries!

In Isaiah 24:11, it says that “there is a crying for wine in the streets.”  This passage speaks symbolically to the calamitous time we live in where people are longing for something real and authentic.  Surface ministry won’t cut it.  It’s got to be deeper.  People are hungry for authentic relationship.  They are hungry for real hope.  I believe that if we get in the business of doing what Christ asks of us – that is, to love God and to love others with everything in our being – our presence in the community will not only matter, it will magnify Jesus in ways that actually change lives.

As we draw a close to 2014, I am so excited about what the new year brings for you and your church.  Know that, as partners with you in the Kingdom, we are praying with you to see God do mighty things through your ministries and in our community.  God bless you and Merry Christmas!

Lord, as we celebrate your birth this month, may we not forget why you came or what impact you left on the world.  You know our very hearts and our devotion to Your calling.  Consume our minds and energize our bodies that we may of be of service to You and mankind in a way that magnifies and glorifies You.   As we move into a new year, may our vision be ever so clear and our determination ever so great.  May the temporal things not distract our focus from the eternal things.  Help us never to miss your voice, or the moments and opportunities presented to us every day to share your faith, hope, and love with others.  Lord, we recognize that, truly, You are the only gift that matters in this world!  Amen!