We’re On The March

By pastorbillwalden

Jesus said to go into all the world and make disciples.  (Matthew 28:19) 

A failure of the Church and Christians is that sometimes we ask the World to come to us, and we neglect to go to them.  Don’t misunderstand me: I very much encourage Believers to ask Unbelievers to attend church, or other church events.  I think that that is great, and that it should be happening, but there is more to reaching the world than just that.

The Church needs to be out in the community, rubbing shoulders with people in their world.  It happens very naturally.  We have the same barber for years, we see the same grocer for decades, we see the same parents at school functions.  We don’t have to develop a plan about how to interact with people who don’t know Jesus; we already are interacting with them.  We need to love them, and as the opportunity avails itself, we need to speak to them about Jesus. We need to be praying, and we need to be ready.

Something our church has discovered is that we best intersect with Unbelievers when we are where they want to be.  Over the years, we have done concerts in the park, etc.  The response has always been minimal.  In Napa Valley, there are scores of fun and interesting things to do.  It is difficult to compete with the entertainment and recreational opportunities here in the Valley.

Our biggest and best interaction with the unbelieving world is our Halloween Outreach called “Light Of Life Festival”.  On Halloween, young families are very much looking for something safe and fun for their kids to do.  We have sponsored this outreach for many years, and we have met hundreds who would never enter our church doors.  We offer fun for the kids, Christian literature, and a verbal message about why we do the event.  The community hears about Jesus, and they gladly come to us.

Today is another chapter in reaching the community by being in the community.  We are marching, but not on City Hall.  We are not marching against something today, but we are marching with fellows Napans in the 4th of July Parade.  We have three classic cars entered, we will wear American flag t-shirts, and hand out candy, refrigerator magnets with church information, and invitations to our sports VBS.  We will wave and hand out American flags, and we will meet many people today that we don’t normally see.

We will gather where unbelievers want to be, and we will meet them on their turf, and we will share Jesus.

May I encourage you to find ways to meet with people who don’t know Jesus by entering into their world.  Pick up trash in a city clean up.  Build a float to celebrate a worthy cause.  Help fill sand bags when the river is rising, and help those facing danger.

We know that all these causes are lesser causes, and that the Kingdom of which are citizens will outlast all these things.

But someone has rightly said that, “The only thing you can take to heaven is people”.

Get out of the house and meet some people.  Pray for your barber, your grocer, the crosswalk attendant.  Meet them at civic events, spend time with folks who don’t know Jesus.  Jesus said that we are to be salt and light.  Get out of the saltshaker, and let your light shine.