When Jesus told us we would have trouble in this world, He was not kidding (John 16:33). I’ve been reminded almost daily for the last couple of months how hard it is out there. People are hurting and it’s not your common variety of aches and pains, like your neighbor’s cat using your yard as a litter box. That’s a reality for us and it’s not something that brings me joy and it makes me ask questions like: Why don’t people keep their cats indoors with a litter box like we do, but that’s a topic for another day.
People are hurting. It’s relational, it’s financial, it’s work, it’s housing, it’s sexual, it’s home, it’s family, it’s church, it’s not just church, it’s their own personal spiritual lives, it’s physical health challenges and it’s mental health challenges; depression and anxiety are running out of the gate like a racehorse. People are lonely and they are afraid, fear is obviously a part of this equation.
I’d like to just go back to bed and act like all of this is a dream but I know that won’t help. I pray a lot about where the church fits into these cultural issues and mental health and suicide prevention specifically are at the top of my list. How can we help with addiction disorders? What about the 50% divorce rate that seems to have just become a normal thing or something we are prepared to live with as a society. The stakes are too high for us just to “hope” things get better on their own.
I don’t want to sound flip or goofy but because I’m in the business I have the answer to these problems. The short answer is a person named Jesus.
How does the modern- day church create tangible expressions of Christ so that people will take notice of Him like they did when He walked the earth? In the past we created education systems, health care systems, orphanages but now most churches are just trying to keep the front doors of the church building open.
In Nehemiah 4:6 we read about God’s people and it says they, “had a mind to build.” Does that still describe us? Would we choose to no longer enable people with more or less a “band-aid” and seek to empower them? You know the old saying, “Give the person a fish and they will eat that day. Teach a person to fish and they will eat for a lifetime.”
There is no doubt Ephesians 3:20 is still true. We serve a God that can do far more than we can ask or imagine. And Philippians 4:13 is still true: “We can do all things through Christ who gives us strength.” The church is still Plan A and there is no Plan B. Like the song says, “We were made to thrive” and it is a thriving church that brings God glory and God likes His glory (Isaiah 48:9-11).
So do we have a Bob the Builder attitude? Bob might be one the best Christians I know. You know Bob the Builder, “Can we do it? Yes, we can!” Let’s go church!
He told me to tell you that.
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