Vox populi | following

going where Jesus already is

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ave you ever sat in a church service and wondered where God was?  I’ve been there, and thankfully not too recently.  In fact, this past weekend I had the privilege of serving alongside cadets as we went out for a weekend of ministry.  We all had opportunity to share how God expanded their learning, and highlights from the weekend, and there was a comment that keeps coming back to me.

Matt shared how his team had gone out on a midnight patrol taking food and drinks to women who were prostituting themselves on the streets.  He explained how he thought the purpose of the evening was to minister God’s grace to the prostitutes, but when he met them on the street he was reminded that in a mystical way God was already present.  They had only come to join Him in the places where He was moving.  Campolo preaches the immediacy of the kingdom, and explains that in a missional sense we should not be going to the places where the church is absent, but with a shift in paradigm, ought to be going to the place where Jesus already is.

Is Christ in the pews of our churches?  Yes, but He calls us out of those places and into our communities.  Is He present in suburbs as well as the poor neighbourhoods?  Sure, but like the comfortable pews of our corps I believe he calls us out of those places also.  I’m reminded that Jesus saved my white middle class suburban family from a path of devastation from alcohol and drug abuse.  I’m also reminded we had the resources our family needed to care for itself, both personal, familial and financial.  Those who are poor do not have those resources.

This weekend when we’re sitting in our corps/church look around for God, and seek the courage to follow Him outside of the building to the places He is already at work.

Vox populi appears every Friday on theRubicon. Find past Vox populi posts and a bio of Capt. Rick Zelinsky here.

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