A few years ago we signed a lease on a warehouse- one that had been a former auto repair shop. We moved in (read: painted and set up chairs, nothing more) and began holding services. Sure, there was still much to clean up- including the filthy concrete floor (now, we have clean, finished concrete), but the place was far cheaper than what we were paying to rent the conference area in a nearby hotel.
After a few years of growth, some major renovations (sometime ask me about how the city inspector kicked us out for not having enough bathrooms, enough exits, and needing to install a fire alarm!), we bought the building and settled in. And I do mean settled.
A year ago we finally evaluated what we were doing. Were we actually making a difference? Or had we become so comfortable that we were simply coasting?
We had come into the heart of the city to change the city- but that wasn’t happening. We were simply providing a Sunday morning service with great music and sound Biblical teaching. Housed in our renovated auto-repair shop warehouse, we had a great physical environment. Many churches were spending millions of dollars to build buildings that looked similar to what we had stumbled upon.
But, we began asking the question, "If we shut the church down, what would be different? Would it even matter?"
Turns out, it wouldn't matter at all.
We weren't doing anything unique that was reaching anyone who wouldn't otherwise be reached by what the larger church-as-a-whole in Birmingham was already doing. The truth was that if we cancelled our Sunday morning services, BIrmingham would simply be down one church service.
It struck me as odd. And it was sobering to really evaluate it. I mean, if "the church is the hope of the world," as I have heard Bill Hybels say (and I tend to agree with him), then shouldn't there remain a large, gaping hole if a church closes its doors?
We were familiar with the basic texts: Jesus says as much in Matthew 5:14 (“You are a city on a hill...”). The prophet Jeremiah even contended that the “church” was a “city within a city.” That is, we have the city of man (political bounds) and the City of God (spiritual, no bounds) that exists inside of that city- to love and benefit that city (see Jeremiah 29:4f., in which Jeremiah tells the People of God to live and buy and sale and marry and have kids and plant roots and love the city in which they live).
Were we actually blessing the city in any way?
In some way, Jeremiah believed what Paul believed and what Jesus insinuated- that God had many people in the city (some of whom did not know HIm, yet- see Acts 18:10). And, furthermore, that God was the very One who determined who lives at what address at every given time throughout all of human history (see Acts 17:26)
Here's our point-of-view: we live in the City of God and in the city of man. The City of God is eternal and unchanging- and is here to bless and redeem and serve the city of man. It is our hope that we would be such a small city, one that would shine its light and show the world in which we live a hope-filled way- the Way. And, that we would do so from a stand-point of truth and grace, and of humility and boldness.
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