Community Engagement (part one)

Why would a church want to get involved in its neighbourhood? Many churches over the centuries have regrettably just sought to draw people out of their neighbourhood into the church's own particular agenda. As important as it is to worship God and learn from the Bible, this is not all of what the Christian life should be about. The Jesus-following life, as I like to term it ... to distinguish what I am talking about from mere cultural christianity (where attending church is just the done thing rather than anything personal or transformational), is also about connecting with your neighbours and serving the needs that exist in the local community. From the biblical perspective, this means allowing the light and hope we have through Jesus to shine out from us in very practical and helpful ways. From the human perspective, this means showing solidarity with human needs, for we all have needs of one type or another. Sharing life is what following Jesus is really most about. In this way neighbourhoods and communities, not just individual lives, can be transformed toward better living conditions for all. Yesterday my wife and I read, in our daily devotion, that Jesus has invited us to be part of God's Kingdom (Colossians 1:13), and that part of living with integrity in the "location" of God's kingdom, is living out life-transforming behaviour patterns that clearly reflect such a "spiritual location" ... in our current and great "neighbourhood location". What a daily challenge!