Hungry for Relationships
Theme of the Week: Mixing It Up
Peter Larson
Tuesday, July 1, 2003
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Key Bible Verse: "I have opened a door for you that no one can shut" (Revelation 3:8). Bonus Reading:Isaiah 58:6-10
We were proud to be "the church that stayed" in inner-city Indianapolis. And we appeared to be effectively serving the poor. But residents who received our charity weren't being evangelized, discipled, or invited into the life of the church. We remained an enclave for affluent, educated whites.
Why? We'd designed our ministries to keep people at a safe distance—treating them more like clients than friends.
Take our feeding ministry. For 12 years it had operated as a take-out window. Neighborhood people lined up for bowls of soup but weren't allowed into the padlocked building. Then we unlocked the doors and invited people to eat inside the church. We stopped calling it a soup kitchen and named it Tab's Open Door. Some members began coming each day to sit and eat lunch with the guests. Before long, some neighborhood residents were volunteering to help. We also began a voluntary Bible study, three times a week before meals. This grew into a weekly worship service, and several people received Christ.
—Peter Larson in Prism
My Response: Has my helping hand been extended at arm's length?
Thought to Apply: Our world has become a neighborhood without becoming a brotherhood.
—Billy Graham (evangelist)
Adapted from Prism (9/10/01) by permission.
Copyright © 2003 by the author or Christianity Today International/Men of Integrity magazine.
Click here for reprint information on Men of Integrity.
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Lord, don't let my belief remain private and detached. Push me out into Your world to demonstrate Your love.
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