Now that the election is over, we need to re-center our minds and hearts upon our primary mission of bringing Christ to our world, nation and community. I want to challenge my few readers to think with me and share with me your thoughts. We have means avaiable to us today that christians of the past could not have even imagined. How do we appropriate and harness those means to accomplish our goal of outreach?
It seems to me that we are far better than we used to be in addressing the poor and downtrodden with the gospel. There was a time when people so feared the so-called social gospel that we were afraid to help the poor. After all we have the poor with us always. Our mission seemed greater. We are to save the soul and not the life of the poor. What we often did was surrender both. Now I think christians are more aware that man is whole and cannot easily be rent asunder so that we could address one part and not the other. If we ignore the physical and social plight of an individual, he has no reason to believe we have any interest in him except to add numbers to our church directory. The poor will hear our rhetoric about love, but will fail to feel loved. As I say I think churches are trying harder than we once did to express love of the whole person. The Maypearl Church of Christ has scheduled our annual christmas party and this year rather than just inviting our members, we are asking the members to invite someone or a family that might not have many social opportunities or finances that would even allow them to eat out.
As I say I think we are making progress in outreach to the poor, but we are not making much progress in reaching the more fortunate in our community. Those with more money and more education seem to strike fear in us. We have already written them off. Do we believe that Christ is appealing to and needed by only the poor and in many instances the less educated of our community. I think as a church we need to be an equal opportunity communicate and not discriminate against any group. We must not allow fear or lack of creativity prevent us from reaching out to certain elements of our community.
Share with me any ideas that you have seen work or that upon reflection, you think my work in reaching any part of society, especially the more affuent and the more educated. At the same time share any ideas that you think would make outreach to the poor, who many times do not have the education opportunies that others might have,more effective.
Ronnie
1 comment:
Regarding the well off and the educated. How about hosting and advertising a free nightly seminar to last three or four weeks--one evening a week-- with a topic that would be challenging to the educated. You are so smart, you can think of some provocative topic. The goal is to provide the loaves and fishes in the form of a discussion of the educated on some topic they would feel excited about learning or expressing their thoughts on. Try to think of topics like Jesus did to the masses he taught. Not sermons, but the ways He "hooked" his audience. What do men like to talk about? What are concerns that are general to most men? What are issues that they would be excited to discuss? Have drink refreshments of coffee and or water. I would not serve food or cake or cookies. These are distracting and prolong the beginning of the discussion. Sit around ain a circle not at a podium, but you lead the talk. Then you lead the discusssion on the topic and hook the men. Finish this first non threatening seminar and then together you men could plan another siminar with another topic of their choosing. Throughout these discussions this small group of educated men will learn of your knowledge of th eBible and see youuse it as your guide. Eventually the topic will be a Bible study. I wish I were talking to you personally, because I think I have a good idea here, but boy am I rambling! I am tired. Perhaps I will call tomorrow and share in your ear something of what I am thinkg. who knows. This is exciting. The women would come later. I believe it would be best to begin with the men and have the men get excited for the women whenever they get a seminar going. Better for the men to lead the women than for the wives to nag their husbands into coming to the church for some seminar.Besides, God intended that man take the lead for the women. I believe that is the way for this outreach to be successful.
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