Strong Words

Neil Cole has just published an article called Breaking the Glass Ceiling. He says,

Church, as we have known it, is mostly removed from influence in society. A misguided extractional approach to our world, where we extricate new adherents from their non-Christian web of relationships to join our separated community, has only succeeded in extracting us from any positive influence.

The result is that we are most often isolated from our neighborhoods and have a reputation for doing little that is good for them. We shout at the world from a distance and are rarely heard. Instead we are the butt of late night jokes. We must face the truth that no matter what we think of ourselves, blessing the community around us is not the reputation we have with our neighbors.

We are deceiving ourselves if we think that meeting on Sundays for songs and sermons is changing the world. We must do more and it must be done outside our walls, but first inside our souls. Break down the stained glass curtain and get out into the neighborhood to help people with genuine love rather than self-interest.