Brothers and sisters, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised thingsand the things that are notto nullify the things that are.1
The world and even the church send all kinds of subtle and not so subtle messages that the elderly, the widowed, single parents and the poor are not important demographics. Whether its in the form of theprogramming on TV and the advertising that sponsors it, or the ministry programming in our churches, these classes of people just dont generate the income or the volunteers or the image these institutions think they need.
We have a mantra that the future of our church lies with our youth. But I often tell groups of men that he future of the church lies not with our youth, but with our widows. Because someday were going to die and leave our own wives as widows. How the church treats widows today is how the church will be treating our wives when were gone.
It is the weakest in our congregations and communities that give us the greatest opportunity to experience Gods love and power. When we ignore and marginalize these people, we rob ourselves of spiritual riches far beyond anything we could possibly imagine and turn our churches into sterile, dead meeting places for the materially content and socially connected.
The Bible is filled with examples of God turning to the weakest of the weak to demonstrate his power and glory. God used a forgotten foreigner imprisoned in a dungeon in Egypt whose name was Joseph to save not only his family, but the entire nation of Egypt from starvation.2
God used a shy and fearful man who was the least respected in his family, whose family was from the weakest clan in the smallest tribe of Israela man named Gideonto deliver Israel from foreign enemies.3
God used a childless and helpless widow, a foreigner named Ruth, to provide for Naomi and become the matriarch of the line of David and of Jesus Christ.4
God used a starving widow in a foreign country whose name we dont even know to provide for Elijah during a famine in Israel.5
God used a shepherd who was the youngest of seven sons and whose name was David to begin the Davidic dynasty.
God used the most rebellious of sinners, who was also a poor public speaker with a severe eye disease, whose name was Paul to become the greatest missionary of all time.
We think the future of the church lies with our youth, and with families, and with the suburbs. But that is not true. Certainly, we must not ignore these needs in our church. But the true future of the church lies with the poor and the weak in our midst. It lies with widows and fatherless children. It lies in the blighted areas of our cities. It lies with the ability of God to bring redemption and life to sinners and outcasts.
This post first appeared in Doing Good Well, by Herb Reese and in NewCommandment.org.
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One thought on “Exclusivity and the Church”
Actions speak louder than words. The impact of this goes a long way in a society where everyone is talking (and yelling) and not doing much. Our world needs to see true christianity at work. I think its a great way to build the Kingdom.