(picture from Shaun Groves blog)Last night, our church hosted the muscial guest, Shaun Groves. He was part of a series we have had on Wednesday nights, where the muscial guest shares songs related to one of the Fruit of the Spirit and then a host and the audience have an oppurtunity to dialogue with the muscial guest between songs. Shaun's focus last night was on "gentleness." His songs spoke of the Kingdom of God that is NOW and how as Christians we are to become poor in Spirit first so that gentleness may be displayed in our actions. His main message was about our responsibility as Christians to take care of the poor and how our churches are failing to prepare us for this. We are more often taught on being "saved" so that we will go to heaven (and not hell) when we die but we are not being taught that Jesus was sharing a bigger message that many of us have missed. Jesus' message was that you are "saved" so that NOW you can act and bring about what He calls the Kingdom of God, a Kingdom where mercy, peace and justice reign! Not a popular topic we hear from the pulpit these days and that is unfortunate. Shaun tackled this hard question from an audience member on why do we not hear this message in our churches (of any denomination)? Shaun gave a great response that convicted me and brought me to tears. He even took the time to sum it up on his blog and you can read his response here. I hope you take the time to read his comments and share with me what you think.
1 comment:
Sarah -- I just relish your sensitivity and your passion for this issue! I wish my heart was as tender as yours. I am encouraged by a seeming trend in many churches to address these issues of poverty outside/inside of the US... well, churches other than COC. It is sad to me though that many groups outside of Christianity are the leaders of raising awareness of the issues of poverty. I would hope that followers of Christ would champion these causes at least as much as anyone else. Perhaps the efforts of Sojourners and other groups will spur this on. I am greatly encouraged that you, Angie and Preston are starting a social justice group at Otter Creek. I pray that this endeavor will move Otter Creekers to develop a burden for the poor and increase our outreach efforts to these individuals. -- Christy
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