Many major charities got their start as outreach missions of churches and other religious organizations. Many congregations once had extensive and active mission engagements in their communities and around the globe. Gradually, successful charities spun off to form tax-exempt and secular non-profits, becoming professionalized and often doing more efficiently what congregations struggled to do. Meanwhile, much church mission work has withered or shrunk as congregational numbers dwindled.
This comes to mind as I read what Jesus said to his disciples after they complained that someone outside their group was attempting to work miracles in his name: “Whoever is not against us is for us. For truly I tell you, whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because you bear the name of Christ will by no means lose the reward.”
Many churches are increasingly isolated from their communities, as efforts to attract people to worship services meet with little success. And many people in today’s Western societies seem little interested in what institutional religion is selling. Where churches can connect is by inviting people to join them in transformational service. That offers a most natural way to share faith, working alongside people who are not part of our congregations, making space for them to bring “cups of water” to us and those with whom we work to address needs and change structures. From inviting people to help us serve meals in soup kitchens to promoting things like gun violence prevention, there are many access points that might appeal to the un- or de-churched.
And if a congregation is too small to effectively field an outreach project (after all, congregations are not social work agencies; they are meant to be engines for transformation – personal, societal and global), they can partner with another congregation or a non-profit, which might be delighted to have a cadre of willing and compassionate volunteers come alongside. And then relationships can form in that work.
What works of service or advocacy are you involved in? Who from beyond your congregation might you invite to join you? How might you lift up the gifts of such people, making them full partners in your work? How might you communicate that your commitment to this work is rooted in your relationship with Christ, that you work in his name?
What organizations around you are doing great work, with whom you might partner? For instance, one of my parishes has a state-of-the-art commercial kitchen and a keen interest in food ministries. We’ve talked about offering courses in cooking healthy and economical meals to people who receive food from the food bank or food stamps. We’re a very small group –but the regional food council has said they can provide instructors any time we ask. We can partner with them and build relationships all around. Win/win!
Put another way: Who around us is offering us cups of water because we bear the name of Christ, affirming our work and our commitments? By all means, let’s take the water and drink it, and build on the friendship from there. We know a little something about the water of life.
To receive Water Daily by email each morning, subscribe here.
No comments:
Post a Comment