One thing that has always amazed me in church life is the lack of unity between God’s churches. As I grew up in the Northeast, I saw separation between denominations, but when I moved to the South I saw a whole new level of division, even between churches in the same denominations. It was the competition and rivalry that I just could not understand. Now yes, I know that there are many views of theology, beliefs, traditions and practices that may separate us, but there is a lot we agree on.
In this series of blogs I have been discussing disaster response by the church. How many churches do you know that would say that they do not believe that they should love their neighbor? That the Good Samaritan was a fool to help? That when Jesus was talking about feeding the hungry, giving water to the thirsty, etc ., that He was not talking to them? None that I know of, so why do we try to be the lone ranger in many of our ministries. Disaster response is a perfect example.
It is also a perfect place to break down barriers between churches. Consider creating a city wide or region wide inter-church disaster network. If you really want to step out, create an interfaith network. The value to your community would be endless. If you want to see an interfaith disaster network in action, check out www.nydisnet.org .
Every church needs to have emergency readiness, response and recovery as part of its mission plan. We as the family of Christ must be prepared to serve in unity with all believers down the street, across the US and to the ends of the earth. Are we?
{ 0 comments… add one now }