The Flow of the River of New Life

The point of writing these articles is a simple one. That is, that for several reasons, the Church and other faith-related organizations have primary responsibility for building local economy.

The reasons for this load include: (1) That nearly every community in the world has a faith-oriented organization of some kind; (2) That faith-oriented organizations typically include both the lowest and highest income families in the community; (3) The faith group, being already organized, has at hand the primary requisite for community action; (4) Understands and operates with a sense of purpose and drive; and (4) At least in the theology of most faith groups, some level of human comfort fits well into God's Vision for the world.

Actor Morgan Freeman, speaking on NBC's Today show, spoke this morning of Clint Eastwood's directing style. Freeman said that Eastwood's stated purpose as a director is "to make life as easy as possible" for the actors. That enables the actors to do the best they can.

Life in the Church is much the same. That is, that the intent of Christ and pastors and church leaders and members is to make life as easy as possible for each other. That opens the door to superior living and mutual support.

Too often the Church gets caught up in condemnatory nonsense. This tendency then becomes an albatross around the neck of the church and the community. It is far better to teach God's vision for the world, then open the door for the community to come as close to that vision as it can. They will.

Geico Insurance now has an advertisement on American Television that I like a lot. An executive is speaking to a staff meeting. He says "Our task is to make accounts payable exciting again." As he speaks, one of the young men on the staff is making faces and silly hand gestures, mocking the speaker. Then the speaker notices the young man.

The ad voice continues. "In the time it takes to clean out your desk, you can save hundreds with Geico."

Our task in our faith groups is to make the Lord's vision for the world exciting again. We do not want our congregations and communities sitting back and making silly faces and hand gestures at our efforts, or at our Lord's. The people will take us seriously if we are making their lives easier.

This also constitutes the most legitimate evangelism. Making someone's life easier is the greatest attraction. Then inviting them to participate in making life better for even yet others is perhaps next best. These two together form an unbeatable combination for mission. It is precisely this that brought about the growth of the Church, beginning with one man and growing to billions of persons.

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