We went out to connect with retail shops by offering to clean their toilets. We simply walked into these places with our cleaning kits in hand and said, “Hi, we’re here to clean your toilets – for free – to show you a bit of God’s kindness.” Pretty much everyone gave us a funny look. They all said they didn’t want it – but I could tell they assumed we wanted a donation. I know they thought this. We had to say several times we were doing this strictly for free with no donations accepted at all. It was only after we had told them several times that this was for FREE and we weren’t taking donations that they lightened up. After that we were able to connect with them. We were able to tell them this was a way of conveying the love of God to our neighbors. They warmed up quickly after that.
The Church has a lot of work to do in this area. We need to get to work by conveying to the culture around us what we are about. It is common that people who aren’t a part of church (perhaps they are a part of church…) think we are all about raising money. It is almost inconceivable that Jesus’ followers would do something altruistic. We need to get to work by serving others in a big way.
At the same time this provides the Church with significant opportunities. We make a strong impact by serving in surprising ways. We are able to break through into people’s lives by doing simple, doable serving projects. I don’t have a corner on the market of ideas we need to be involved with but I have discovered a few things apparently connect with the watching world.
I pray for more hearts in the Church to be able to hear the challenge God is offering these days. I pray we can sense his calling out to the culture around us. As Jesus said the harvest is plentiful – it is the laborers that are few.