The Holy Spirit!

Now before you politely yell “cop out,” under your breath, hear me out.  On the day of Pentecost, Diaspora Jews gathered in Jerusalem witnessed the undoing of the curse of the Tower of Babel. The wall of suspicion, prejudice and hostility collapsed as diverse people groups heard the apostles praising God in their own language. As they were amazed, they realized that the new day of God’s redemption had dawned. Not only were individuals brought to the saving grace of God, but ethnic groups were reconciled to each other through the workings of the Holy Spirit.

The good news is, the Holy Spirit has not stopped working.  He is still at work all around us today.  The question then becomes, are we making room for the Holy Spirit to work within our ministry in ways that foster naturally diversity?

In what ways can we be more intentional about reflecting the changing demographic of our communities more accurately within our church bodies? Pastor Rick Rusaw in his book, Externally Focused Church, encourages ministries to embrace and impact their communities by embodying four basic principles.

Principle #1:  The Good News and good deeds go hand in hand. Chuck Olsen says, “common grace and saving grace are two sides to the same coin.”  The Good News give purpose to the good deeds we do.  The good deeds we do in and for our community creates situations where people actually experience the Good News.

Principle #2:  How the people of God live in their communities is “vital” to the health and well being of their communities. The Christian church is the soul of the city. If the city is dead, what is that saying about its soul?  It’s imperative that we encourage our church membership to actively engage the community in ways that demonstrate that our God is real, relevant, and changes lives if we let Him.  When we do that, God has a way of drawing “all” men unto Him.

Principle #3: Ministry and service should be “normal” expressions of the church. Being an important resource to the rest of the community should be “the church’s” modus operendi.  As the foot is built to walk and run, the church is built for ministry and service to its community.

Principle #4: Evangelism becomes a natural product of the “ever presence” of the church in the community. If you think evangelism is just telling people how to get eternal “fire insurance” and that’s it, you are missing the power and freedom that Jesus offers to those who desire to follow after Him.  When we say it’s all about Jesus, it really is!  That statement is so profound.  Jesus gives life and purpose to everything we do, so if we are truly doing things as an act of worship, people will be drawn to the one who brings what we do to life.  At that point, our only job is to not get in the way and allow the Holy Spirit to use our words and our deeds to draw all people unto Him.

Here’s my point: because the landscape of our communities are already becoming diverse, if we just become intentional about being externally focused and truly connecting, in meaningful ways, with the community around us -as Christ uses the lives of His body to draw all “man” unto Him, diversity will just happen!

What do you think?