I spoke to a man the other day who does market research (focus groups and interviews) with a wide range of people: what they like and don't like; what they think and feel about various things. He said that overwhelmingly what people want more than anything else is belonging: to fit in and be accepted; to have a role; to matter to other people. A place where they be honest, be safe, and belong.
Yet, he said, paradoxically, the places in society where people can find belonging – like service clubs, churches, scouting and civic groups – are all in massive decline. It seems odd, but he swears it is true. We have bigger TVs than ever before, and as we huddle round them we yearn for real relationships; we yearn to belong.
If what this man says is true, then our communities are full of people who long deep down to have what we have. We belong to Christ our savior and we belong to one another as members of His body. By God's grace we have ultimate belonging; the ultimate experience of community and calling. So it got me thinking: surely from those to whom much is given, much will be expected. How can we build that community beyond the doors of this Sanctuary and let it overflow into our streets and suburbs where it is so desperately needed?
≫ How does your church provide you with a place where you feel like you belong?
≫ How could you together with your church family provide a better environment for people to join your fellowship?
≫ How will you help someone else find a place their place and experience the joy of belonging?
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Take a “leap of faith”!
Don’t just talk about it, take it!
Don’t just be willing to take it, take it!
Go outside the doors, walls of the sanctuary, of the church!
Go! Don’t just talk about it. Go!
Try by doing!
They are good and have their place, but stop dwelling in the “think tanks”! You will drown there!
Go do!
Fail, perhaps, but remember, “All things are possible with God.”
Go do, out of and because of love.
Go do, motivated by and responding to your servant’s heart.
As Timothy Keller states in his book “King’s Cross,” when referencing Mark 12: 29-31, “Thus Jesus boils down all the law of God into one principle — love, directed to God and to others…. The law is not being fulfilled unless it is obeyed as a way of giving and showing love to God and others.” [p. 134]
…pray…listen…He will speak…He will undergird…He will enable…”love directed to [Himself] and to others.”
…”take a leap of faith”…go, do!