I'm a weird kind of guy...money and material things aren't what I'm looking for. Maybe that's because I never had much growing up and I never caught the fever for the things people call being successful. And all I've ever wanted is just what I need...not much more. But I need Christ I need to be closer to him...but I'm not good enough...I know nobody is but I'm less then not being good enough. But I know God gave us Christ and I don't want to miss out...I NEED HIM.
None of us are good enough - and still Jesus came to save us. The apostle Paul expressed this idea.
"And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord who has enabled me, because He counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry, although I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and an insolent man; but I obtained mercy because I did it ignorantly in unbelief. And the grace of our Lord was exceedingly abundant, with faith and love which are in Christ Jesus. This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief. However, for this reason I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might show all longsuffering, as a pattern to those who are going to believe on Him for everlasting life. Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, to God who alone is wise, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen." (1 Timothy 1:12-17)
Agreed, and thank you. I point out the above to add a needed perspective as to a reason (one of several, but certainly not the only reason) as to why it seems there are not that many of the poor, outcasts, disenfranchised, etc., in the pews.
You also mentioned skin color. All but the first of the 5 congregations I've preached at have been in the South. The first church I preached for was in the St. Louis area on the Illinois side, where I spent the majority of my childhood. There was and still is an all-black congregation in that area, whereas the congregation I preached at was predominately white (with one black man placing membership towards the end of my tenure there), and the congregation where my dad preached during my childhood was all white (before it ended up merging with my congregation after I left). I left that congregation in 2003 with it having only one black member. In 2018 I came back for a gospel meeting, and I attended there just a couple of weeks ago during the holidays. Now the membership of that congregation is about 70% white, 30% black. In 2018 when I visited they were on the verge of hiring a black minister and had already hired a black youth minister.
During my childhood I remember going with my family to attend the gospel meetings of the all-black congregation, where we were the only white people there. One of the families at that all black congregation lived 4 houses down from me, and I played street basketball in the neighborhood regularly with one of the sons in that family and was in chorus with another. Both of them were good friends of mine. Both them and I would always join up with the youth group of another predominately white congregation congregation in the area to go to Harding's Spring Sing (since neither of our congregations had a youth group).
When in 2003 I moved to Columbia, SC, the congregation I preached for was about about 60% white, 40% black, with both ethnicities prevalent in the eldership and deaconship. After I left, from what I can see on their website the ratio between black and white at that congregation is now about 50%. In Columbia there is at least one, but I think maybe 2, all-black congregations. During my time in SC I also was a teacher at a nearby preaching school overseen by an all-black congregation, and the majority of my students were black.
From 2005-2015 I preached in northern SC at an all-white church. The eldership invited black ministers to speak with regularity, and rebuked the one member who objected out of bigotry to the point where he publicly repented of it. During my ten years there, a single black woman placed membership, followed soon afterwards by a black family. The former stayed for about 4 years until her job took her elsewhere, and the latter stayed for about 3 years before they decided to place membership with the local all-black congregation. From what I could tell, everyone got along well with everyone.
I then moved to GA where I preached for 5 years at a congregation where the ratio starting out was about 80% white, 20% black, but by the time I left it was around 70% white, 30% black as several black families placed membership. Everyone got along well with everyone.
Where I am now in Murfreesboro, TN, it is an all-white congregation that had only 1 black member when I arrived. I've been there for 2.5 years, and have since seen another older black woman place membership, an older black man place membership about a year later, followed by another black man placing membership about 6 months ago. From what I can tell, everyone gets along with everyone. I'm still getting to know the Nashville area churches, but I'm almost positive that there are certainly all-black congregations within a 30-mile radius. At our Men's Days we do have attendees from an all-black congregation that I would guess is from somewhere in middle TN.
From my experience and observations as described above, I would say that segregated congregations still exist with our brotherhood in this country, but I would also say that integrated congregations are on the rise. It also seems that whatever segregated congregations exist seem to do so by choice as opposed to being forced to do so via the racist laws and culture of the past. I got the sense from that family who left us to attend the local all-black congregation that they didn't have a problem with us or feel unloved by us, but simply would feel like they had more in common with an all-black congregation. Thus, ethnic culture probably also plays a factor here.
Yes, things have improved tremendously from what they used to be.
I think the reasons vary as to why there are not many poor, outcasts, disenfranchised, etc. sitting in the pews. Some of the reasons are outside of our control - or are despite our efforts. But, at least in some places, if we are honest with ourselves - some of the reasons are because we have failed to reach out into our communities.
I've seen both sides of it.
Some need encouragement to keep doing what they're doing. Some need encouragement to start doing something at all in their local communities.
I'm currently in a profitable study with an underprivileged ex-con who showed up asking for charity at the church where I preach around two weeks ago. We helped him with food and rent, he just started a job at Cracker Barrel, and all indications show that he is serious about getting God in his life and turning his life around. I've had two studies with him so far and he was very receptive. The next one is in a few days.
I've been preaching for 24 years. This is the absolute first time I've personally encountered and studied with an impoverished individual who has acted like this.
Where I was before I started my current work, we had an outreach to the underprivileged in the community which consisted of making home-cooked meals for them twice a month on Sunday evenings, serving them as much as they wanted while playing Gospel Broadcasting Network lessons on the TV, giving them gospel tracts, and inviting them to Bible studies and worship. Not a one of them took us up on it.
Where I am now, right when I started I found out that there was an impoverished young mother whom the congregation was helping benevolently and had been studying with her. I found this out during the transition period between churches when I came up to preach one Sunday, because I was then asked to baptize her, having been told not only of the studies but of her desire, expressed that day to one of the elders, to be baptized. So I baptized her. Efforts were immediately made by the congregation to continue helping her, continue teaching her, etc. However, within a month or so she was gone and efforts to reach out to her produced nothing. Where our building is (downtown Murfreesboro) means that we interact with homeless and impoverished quite a lot. The above scenario, in that we help and make efforts to study with little to no baptisms followed soon afterwards by departures in spite of our best efforts to retain them, is common.
On the other hand, about a year ago our community outreach school backpack drive produced a series of studies by members here with a single mother with several kids that led to her baptism, and she continues with us regularly to this day, even going so far as to show up at weekend retreats, etc. She is not homeless and has a job, but is still lower-class leaning towards impoverished as opposed to middle class.
It is true that we read in the Bible about care, concern, and outreach to the poor, and we also read of how many converts were poor. However, we also read in the Bible of Jesus acknowledging that a significant percentage of those who came to hear him came because they wanted a free meal of miraculous loaves and fishes, from which one could reasonably conclude that many also came primarily because they wanted to be miraculously healed or wanted, like Herod, to "see a show."
One should also remember that a large portion of his followers -- made up of primarily lower-class Galileans -- abandoned him after a sermon full of "hard teachings" in John 6, as well as the fact that "many are called, but few are chosen," and that the sower parable gives basically a 1:4 ratio of outreach that produces truly converted people that are in it for the long haul.
These factors might give some more insight to you as you continue to chew on this topic.
I think it will always be true that the majority of people (from any walk of life) who hear the truth will reject it - in most cases. But that never excuses our responsibility to reach out with the gospel and help others. It sounds like yall continue to do that - which is good!
Damaged people don't need the further stress of having to conform to your ideas of what they SHOULD be doing to EARN your favors. That's not God's love. That's bartering for souls and kinda make me queasy.
Jesus didn't barter with the people who turned away or make conversion and baptism a condition of his grace or scripture studies or weekend retreats or anything else. He never sent the ones away who just wanted a "show". If they walked away, they did so at their own discretion. And at their soul's peril. He offered freely. Gave freely and only a fraction of His listeners stayed.
If you think a ratio of 1:4 conversion is not a good return on investment, then maybe you should invest otherwise. But don't kid yourself about yourself.
It was Jesus who gave the 1:4 conversion ratio. I don’t think he was kidding himself about himself, and I trust his investment sense when it comes to souls.
He also has the habit of teaching the people he healed and fed, many times teaching them before he healed or fed them. The gospel accounts give numerous examples. They were free to leave and they were free to come for their own reasons, yes…but they were going to hear God’s message from him regardless.
And he did turn away the guy who came just for the show, in that he didn’t deign to even speak to Herod, much less do a miracle for him.
So we have quite a lot of biblical support for that which you so quickly, freely, and self-righteously condemn. As Paul said, it is a very small thing for me to be judged by you or any human court. The Bible shows that the Lord is pleased with us in spite of your disapproval, and that’s more than enough for me. 😎
I'm not judging you. I'm talking about how churches are failing. Because they are. If you call that judgment, I don't. I call it criticism. There is a large difference. I' not being self-righteous. I'm telling you what I see. There is a big difference.
Jesus never blackmailed people by making them sit through His sermon in order to get fed. They came willingly to listen to Him not to get a free meal. But were too far from town and too many and He had no money, so He fed them. Again, to illustrate a point.
I feel that queasy feeling in the pit of my stomach again...
If you're referring to the young rich man Jesus turned away, it was because the young rich man would not give up his world of riches to follow Jesus. He wanted to be of the world and follow Jesus as well. A point was being made.
Jesus also said and did all the things I wrote about. I don't remember any ratio in Jesus' teachings. I know He said many are called but few are chosen. That's not a ratio. That is one of God's mysteries in my understanding. Why He chooses who he chooses and not others who are called, I don't know.
If you feel judged it's not by me. Churches are failing. If they want to continue to blame their failure to help people on the very people they are supposedly trying to help, so be it. Rather than looking at themselves to see where they are failing, that's the church people's choice.
You may think the bible tells you Jesus is pleased with you, but does Jesus tell you the same? I don't want an answer. Thanks for the discussion.
With respect, you can try to whitewash your earlier comment all you want, but it's still there for everyone to read. You directed it specifically in reply to me and what I said we were doing at my congregation. You can play the semantics card with judgment vs. criticism if you want; the latter is a synonym of the former anyway so they're the same thing. Furthermore, it is unrighteous, faulty, incorrect judgment in that you classified what we are doing as bartering when that is not what we are doing at all. You told me specifically, in talking about what I said we were doing at my congregation, that what we were doing was not God's love, was bartering for souls, and it made you queasy. You also told me specifically to not kid myself about myself. So yes, it is very much judgment and quite self-righteous in nature, in that you are not even personally involved in what we do and yet feel comfortable enough in your superiority to armchair quarterback it.
Your comment to which I am currently replying only reinforces not only your continued faulty judgment, but also a major mistake you made with my other comments, that mistake being that you are not actually reading what I've been saying with comprehension. I had specified who Jesus had dismissed in my earlier comments (twice), and it was not the rich young ruler. You attribute to me the 1:4 ratio when it is clearly taught in Christ's parable, which I had already specified, and now continue to say that you are not familiar with it being in Scripture even though I already brought out where in the Bible it is in this discussion. You take my earlier comments which give specific information about how we are actually helping people and lump it in with your blanket judgment of churches who supposedly fail to help anyone, and you end with self-righteous dismissal ("I don't want an answer.").
So yes, call it criticism if you want. It's still faulty, unrighteously judgmental, full of false assumptions, and quite self-righteous. If you want people to give heed to your concerns about the church in these matters, then it would be good to re-think your approach.
The good people who go to good churches may find what I say uncomfortable and I don't mean to be divisive, BUT (it always comes with a "but..."), I don't see the poor or other types of disenfranchised people are actually welcomed at churches unless they are ready to become a "fixer upper " that conforms to the "norms" of the rest or majority "style" of the congregation.
For many poor and others, that's not possible, so they see the church as a social club, not a place of sanctuary. A club they don't have the resources or background to be a part of. I know I've felt that way in quite a few churches. I don't fit an easy "profile", so I am usually marginalized and treated more like a pet if I stick around than a person.
Also, I look at churches with big buildings and huge green lawns and I think - how many homeless elderly and children could that building house (at least temporarily)? How many people could a garden in place of that enormous chemically treated lawn feed? I don't see most churches are really interested in the poor so why would the poor walk through the doors? Much less worship Jesus there or even imagine they could find Him inside?
Charles Spurgeon wrote over a hundred years ago that the churches were destroying themselves by losing their primary purpose. He said there was a time when the churches were the center of any town. If you were homeless, hungry, jobless or joyless, you went to the church first. That's where you knew you would find real help.
Jesus said if anyone turns their back on anyone experiencing hard times, even criminals in jail, they are turning their back on Him.
I think He said it all in that teaching, as usual.
From my experience a lot of the poor in our communities are not looking for Jesus. They know more about God's Word than most Christians. Some are legitimate and some are just looking for the next hand-out. Some are angry with God and what we say flies right over their head. Nevertheless, some of these same people are being kept by God to fill the seats of His purpose that others have play with. God is going to shake up this earth like we never seen before. The true houses of God will be filled, and others will be destroyed. Good message.
I'm a weird kind of guy...money and material things aren't what I'm looking for. Maybe that's because I never had much growing up and I never caught the fever for the things people call being successful. And all I've ever wanted is just what I need...not much more. But I need Christ I need to be closer to him...but I'm not good enough...I know nobody is but I'm less then not being good enough. But I know God gave us Christ and I don't want to miss out...I NEED HIM.
None of us are good enough - and still Jesus came to save us. The apostle Paul expressed this idea.
"And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord who has enabled me, because He counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry, although I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and an insolent man; but I obtained mercy because I did it ignorantly in unbelief. And the grace of our Lord was exceedingly abundant, with faith and love which are in Christ Jesus. This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief. However, for this reason I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might show all longsuffering, as a pattern to those who are going to believe on Him for everlasting life. Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, to God who alone is wise, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen." (1 Timothy 1:12-17)
Agreed, and thank you. I point out the above to add a needed perspective as to a reason (one of several, but certainly not the only reason) as to why it seems there are not that many of the poor, outcasts, disenfranchised, etc., in the pews.
You also mentioned skin color. All but the first of the 5 congregations I've preached at have been in the South. The first church I preached for was in the St. Louis area on the Illinois side, where I spent the majority of my childhood. There was and still is an all-black congregation in that area, whereas the congregation I preached at was predominately white (with one black man placing membership towards the end of my tenure there), and the congregation where my dad preached during my childhood was all white (before it ended up merging with my congregation after I left). I left that congregation in 2003 with it having only one black member. In 2018 I came back for a gospel meeting, and I attended there just a couple of weeks ago during the holidays. Now the membership of that congregation is about 70% white, 30% black. In 2018 when I visited they were on the verge of hiring a black minister and had already hired a black youth minister.
During my childhood I remember going with my family to attend the gospel meetings of the all-black congregation, where we were the only white people there. One of the families at that all black congregation lived 4 houses down from me, and I played street basketball in the neighborhood regularly with one of the sons in that family and was in chorus with another. Both of them were good friends of mine. Both them and I would always join up with the youth group of another predominately white congregation congregation in the area to go to Harding's Spring Sing (since neither of our congregations had a youth group).
When in 2003 I moved to Columbia, SC, the congregation I preached for was about about 60% white, 40% black, with both ethnicities prevalent in the eldership and deaconship. After I left, from what I can see on their website the ratio between black and white at that congregation is now about 50%. In Columbia there is at least one, but I think maybe 2, all-black congregations. During my time in SC I also was a teacher at a nearby preaching school overseen by an all-black congregation, and the majority of my students were black.
From 2005-2015 I preached in northern SC at an all-white church. The eldership invited black ministers to speak with regularity, and rebuked the one member who objected out of bigotry to the point where he publicly repented of it. During my ten years there, a single black woman placed membership, followed soon afterwards by a black family. The former stayed for about 4 years until her job took her elsewhere, and the latter stayed for about 3 years before they decided to place membership with the local all-black congregation. From what I could tell, everyone got along well with everyone.
I then moved to GA where I preached for 5 years at a congregation where the ratio starting out was about 80% white, 20% black, but by the time I left it was around 70% white, 30% black as several black families placed membership. Everyone got along well with everyone.
Where I am now in Murfreesboro, TN, it is an all-white congregation that had only 1 black member when I arrived. I've been there for 2.5 years, and have since seen another older black woman place membership, an older black man place membership about a year later, followed by another black man placing membership about 6 months ago. From what I can tell, everyone gets along with everyone. I'm still getting to know the Nashville area churches, but I'm almost positive that there are certainly all-black congregations within a 30-mile radius. At our Men's Days we do have attendees from an all-black congregation that I would guess is from somewhere in middle TN.
From my experience and observations as described above, I would say that segregated congregations still exist with our brotherhood in this country, but I would also say that integrated congregations are on the rise. It also seems that whatever segregated congregations exist seem to do so by choice as opposed to being forced to do so via the racist laws and culture of the past. I got the sense from that family who left us to attend the local all-black congregation that they didn't have a problem with us or feel unloved by us, but simply would feel like they had more in common with an all-black congregation. Thus, ethnic culture probably also plays a factor here.
Yes, things have improved tremendously from what they used to be.
I think the reasons vary as to why there are not many poor, outcasts, disenfranchised, etc. sitting in the pews. Some of the reasons are outside of our control - or are despite our efforts. But, at least in some places, if we are honest with ourselves - some of the reasons are because we have failed to reach out into our communities.
I've seen both sides of it.
Some need encouragement to keep doing what they're doing. Some need encouragement to start doing something at all in their local communities.
Very true.
I'm currently in a profitable study with an underprivileged ex-con who showed up asking for charity at the church where I preach around two weeks ago. We helped him with food and rent, he just started a job at Cracker Barrel, and all indications show that he is serious about getting God in his life and turning his life around. I've had two studies with him so far and he was very receptive. The next one is in a few days.
I've been preaching for 24 years. This is the absolute first time I've personally encountered and studied with an impoverished individual who has acted like this.
Where I was before I started my current work, we had an outreach to the underprivileged in the community which consisted of making home-cooked meals for them twice a month on Sunday evenings, serving them as much as they wanted while playing Gospel Broadcasting Network lessons on the TV, giving them gospel tracts, and inviting them to Bible studies and worship. Not a one of them took us up on it.
Where I am now, right when I started I found out that there was an impoverished young mother whom the congregation was helping benevolently and had been studying with her. I found this out during the transition period between churches when I came up to preach one Sunday, because I was then asked to baptize her, having been told not only of the studies but of her desire, expressed that day to one of the elders, to be baptized. So I baptized her. Efforts were immediately made by the congregation to continue helping her, continue teaching her, etc. However, within a month or so she was gone and efforts to reach out to her produced nothing. Where our building is (downtown Murfreesboro) means that we interact with homeless and impoverished quite a lot. The above scenario, in that we help and make efforts to study with little to no baptisms followed soon afterwards by departures in spite of our best efforts to retain them, is common.
On the other hand, about a year ago our community outreach school backpack drive produced a series of studies by members here with a single mother with several kids that led to her baptism, and she continues with us regularly to this day, even going so far as to show up at weekend retreats, etc. She is not homeless and has a job, but is still lower-class leaning towards impoverished as opposed to middle class.
It is true that we read in the Bible about care, concern, and outreach to the poor, and we also read of how many converts were poor. However, we also read in the Bible of Jesus acknowledging that a significant percentage of those who came to hear him came because they wanted a free meal of miraculous loaves and fishes, from which one could reasonably conclude that many also came primarily because they wanted to be miraculously healed or wanted, like Herod, to "see a show."
One should also remember that a large portion of his followers -- made up of primarily lower-class Galileans -- abandoned him after a sermon full of "hard teachings" in John 6, as well as the fact that "many are called, but few are chosen," and that the sower parable gives basically a 1:4 ratio of outreach that produces truly converted people that are in it for the long haul.
These factors might give some more insight to you as you continue to chew on this topic.
All those things are certainly true!
I think it will always be true that the majority of people (from any walk of life) who hear the truth will reject it - in most cases. But that never excuses our responsibility to reach out with the gospel and help others. It sounds like yall continue to do that - which is good!
Damaged people don't need the further stress of having to conform to your ideas of what they SHOULD be doing to EARN your favors. That's not God's love. That's bartering for souls and kinda make me queasy.
Jesus didn't barter with the people who turned away or make conversion and baptism a condition of his grace or scripture studies or weekend retreats or anything else. He never sent the ones away who just wanted a "show". If they walked away, they did so at their own discretion. And at their soul's peril. He offered freely. Gave freely and only a fraction of His listeners stayed.
If you think a ratio of 1:4 conversion is not a good return on investment, then maybe you should invest otherwise. But don't kid yourself about yourself.
It was Jesus who gave the 1:4 conversion ratio. I don’t think he was kidding himself about himself, and I trust his investment sense when it comes to souls.
He also has the habit of teaching the people he healed and fed, many times teaching them before he healed or fed them. The gospel accounts give numerous examples. They were free to leave and they were free to come for their own reasons, yes…but they were going to hear God’s message from him regardless.
And he did turn away the guy who came just for the show, in that he didn’t deign to even speak to Herod, much less do a miracle for him.
So we have quite a lot of biblical support for that which you so quickly, freely, and self-righteously condemn. As Paul said, it is a very small thing for me to be judged by you or any human court. The Bible shows that the Lord is pleased with us in spite of your disapproval, and that’s more than enough for me. 😎
I'm not judging you. I'm talking about how churches are failing. Because they are. If you call that judgment, I don't. I call it criticism. There is a large difference. I' not being self-righteous. I'm telling you what I see. There is a big difference.
Jesus never blackmailed people by making them sit through His sermon in order to get fed. They came willingly to listen to Him not to get a free meal. But were too far from town and too many and He had no money, so He fed them. Again, to illustrate a point.
I feel that queasy feeling in the pit of my stomach again...
If you're referring to the young rich man Jesus turned away, it was because the young rich man would not give up his world of riches to follow Jesus. He wanted to be of the world and follow Jesus as well. A point was being made.
Jesus also said and did all the things I wrote about. I don't remember any ratio in Jesus' teachings. I know He said many are called but few are chosen. That's not a ratio. That is one of God's mysteries in my understanding. Why He chooses who he chooses and not others who are called, I don't know.
If you feel judged it's not by me. Churches are failing. If they want to continue to blame their failure to help people on the very people they are supposedly trying to help, so be it. Rather than looking at themselves to see where they are failing, that's the church people's choice.
You may think the bible tells you Jesus is pleased with you, but does Jesus tell you the same? I don't want an answer. Thanks for the discussion.
With respect, you can try to whitewash your earlier comment all you want, but it's still there for everyone to read. You directed it specifically in reply to me and what I said we were doing at my congregation. You can play the semantics card with judgment vs. criticism if you want; the latter is a synonym of the former anyway so they're the same thing. Furthermore, it is unrighteous, faulty, incorrect judgment in that you classified what we are doing as bartering when that is not what we are doing at all. You told me specifically, in talking about what I said we were doing at my congregation, that what we were doing was not God's love, was bartering for souls, and it made you queasy. You also told me specifically to not kid myself about myself. So yes, it is very much judgment and quite self-righteous in nature, in that you are not even personally involved in what we do and yet feel comfortable enough in your superiority to armchair quarterback it.
Your comment to which I am currently replying only reinforces not only your continued faulty judgment, but also a major mistake you made with my other comments, that mistake being that you are not actually reading what I've been saying with comprehension. I had specified who Jesus had dismissed in my earlier comments (twice), and it was not the rich young ruler. You attribute to me the 1:4 ratio when it is clearly taught in Christ's parable, which I had already specified, and now continue to say that you are not familiar with it being in Scripture even though I already brought out where in the Bible it is in this discussion. You take my earlier comments which give specific information about how we are actually helping people and lump it in with your blanket judgment of churches who supposedly fail to help anyone, and you end with self-righteous dismissal ("I don't want an answer.").
So yes, call it criticism if you want. It's still faulty, unrighteously judgmental, full of false assumptions, and quite self-righteous. If you want people to give heed to your concerns about the church in these matters, then it would be good to re-think your approach.
Amen
The good people who go to good churches may find what I say uncomfortable and I don't mean to be divisive, BUT (it always comes with a "but..."), I don't see the poor or other types of disenfranchised people are actually welcomed at churches unless they are ready to become a "fixer upper " that conforms to the "norms" of the rest or majority "style" of the congregation.
For many poor and others, that's not possible, so they see the church as a social club, not a place of sanctuary. A club they don't have the resources or background to be a part of. I know I've felt that way in quite a few churches. I don't fit an easy "profile", so I am usually marginalized and treated more like a pet if I stick around than a person.
Also, I look at churches with big buildings and huge green lawns and I think - how many homeless elderly and children could that building house (at least temporarily)? How many people could a garden in place of that enormous chemically treated lawn feed? I don't see most churches are really interested in the poor so why would the poor walk through the doors? Much less worship Jesus there or even imagine they could find Him inside?
Charles Spurgeon wrote over a hundred years ago that the churches were destroying themselves by losing their primary purpose. He said there was a time when the churches were the center of any town. If you were homeless, hungry, jobless or joyless, you went to the church first. That's where you knew you would find real help.
Jesus said if anyone turns their back on anyone experiencing hard times, even criminals in jail, they are turning their back on Him.
I think He said it all in that teaching, as usual.
From my experience a lot of the poor in our communities are not looking for Jesus. They know more about God's Word than most Christians. Some are legitimate and some are just looking for the next hand-out. Some are angry with God and what we say flies right over their head. Nevertheless, some of these same people are being kept by God to fill the seats of His purpose that others have play with. God is going to shake up this earth like we never seen before. The true houses of God will be filled, and others will be destroyed. Good message.