GOOD NEIGHBOR

Have you thanked Him?

Have you praised Him?

Have you made it your priority to agree and cooperate with Him today?

Have you taken that deep breath and listened for what He has for you today?

1 Timothy 2:1 (The Message)

The first thing I want you to do is pray. Pray every way you know how, for everyone you know.

I was wrapping up a session in Lynchburg this past Friday night when a local Pastor stopped me for a chat.  He is a jail chaplain as well.  And so, we were just chit chatting about the upcoming Hope Over Heroin event, ministry; you know the usual.

And then he said something that intrigued me.

He said, Pastor Greg, “I believe the CHURCH has decided to OUTSOURCE ‘love your neighbor’ to the government and social services.”

Sad part of that comment?

He is mostly right. 

I didn’t say completely right.

There are some WONDERFUL CHURCH-LED “love your neighbor” things going on all over this State.  Folks are wading into the challenges of poverty, addiction, human trafficking, and abuse.  Children are being cared for as well as moms in crisis.

So, I am not saying we, THE CHURCH, have outsourced it all, but we have outsourced quite a bit.

I mean just yesterday I was on a conference call with a team from Columbus who has asked me to help with a proposal to further engage the CHURCH in Franklin County in order to offer more opportunities for those suffering in addiction.  On the call was a high-ranking member of Governor Kasich’s team.  And while we were presenting the CHURCH as an untapped resource to help, it is evident we have MUCH WORK to do on our end.

For example, there are 1059 churches in Franklin County alone. 

Today there are a scant 7 Celebrate Recovery Groups, a handful of CHAMPIONS gatherings and 3 Reformers Unanimous groups.  Even if ALL of these groups were knocking it out of the park in attendance and effectiveness, the number that they would serve was about equal to those who will overdose in Franklin County THIS WEEK.

That is sobering huh? 

And that brings me back to the “loving our neighbor” thing.

Jesus made it clear in Luke 10, the story of the GOOD SAMARITAN,

WHO is good neighbor.

(Which of the three became a neighbor to the man attacked by robbers?” “The one who treated him kindly,” the religion scholar responded. Jesus said, “Go and do the same.”)

The good neighbor is:

The ONE who STOPS to see what THEY can do.

The ONE who despite no formal training, invests in some first aid and care.

The ONE who sacrifices themselves to invest in the care of another.

You remember the story, it certainly was not the 2 “churchy” fellas who either were too self-absorbed to engage, fearful to engage, or who just attempted to ignore the issue. They sound a little like today's CHURCH when it comes to the opiate crisis and its ripple effects.  Not judging.  It is hard to argue with the data.

For this pilot project alone, if those 1059 churches averaged 100 engaged attendees each, that is 105,000 potential “GOOD SAMARITANS” that could be GOOD neighbors to our addicted, hurting, impoverished, trafficked and traumatized.

That simple math says that we have the capacity to make a difference! 

The question is will we be neighborly? 

Will we listen to Jesus and “go and do the same” as the Samaritan?

I believe the outsourcing needs to stop.

You?

“One of the best parts of being human is other humans. It's true, because life is hard; but people get to show up for one another, as God told us to, and we remember we are loved and seen and God is here and we are not alone. We can't deliver folks from their pits, but we can sure get in there with them until God does.”

― Jen Hatmaker

I love you all!

OPPORTUNITIES for HOPE