Cigarette Buts at the Door, Kleenex on the Altar: My Kind of Church

Jesus came to earth not only to tell of “Good News” but he embodied it. I watched someone else do that today in Trinity, TX. On the outside he is a country preacher, with a Texas twang. Behind the accent there is a heart so alive that he can’t HELP but share about all God is doing in this small, low-income town.
I found myself captivated by his ability to not just give numbers of how many persons had been saved through the ministries of Burning Hope church but by the way he told story after story of personal accounts of people experiencing love, changing their lives and then living to love others. He and his wife have pastored Burning Hope Baptist church for almost 13 years but as he recounts when they came to serve through Missions Corps of SBC, “we came to minister and church happened.”
Their heart and intent were not to plant a new church but rather to meet the greatest needs they saw in Trinity as God led. They soon realized how addictions and poverty plagued so many individuals and families of this small town and how this divided them from the rest of the town. Aware of the God’s grace in his own life, this pastor and his wife were passionate to communicate God’s love and grace to those trapped in these situations. Not having degrees or expertise in these areas, only love and hope in Christ they began to pray and meet needs through a food pantry and then soup kitchen. In conversations with other pastors in the town this pastor sensed the fear that perhaps they would take church members from the existing churches but he assured one local pastor by saying, “We’re hear for those living along the highways and hedges. If you have people coming to you for help that you know won’t feel comfortable attending your church Sunday mornin’ – you send’em to us to love.” Over the years the food pantry grew out of its’ building and churches in the community worked together to pay for a new building as well as partnering with the Houston food bank and FEMA to receive funds and food periodically. As the pastor continued telling us of Burning Hope’s story of becoming a church, having their own soup kitchen and ministering to those with addictions I was taken back by the simple, yet great faith of this man.
Time and time again over the years this country preacher and his wife prayed specifically for needs that were met in the most astounding and unusual ways. Each part of the church building from the foundation to the lining of the walls had a story as to how it was paid for or donated – and how lives of the business persons he worked with were changed. As the pastor said, “One thing I have learned in ministry, you can’t move ahead of God.” Every piece of the building both inside and out is composed of materials mostly donated and then “restored” by Burning Hope members because of their thankful hearts and willingness figure out how to put everything given to use. The building itself tells a story and is a representation of the goal of its congregants, many of whom have suffered from severe addictions, abuse or burned by the church in the past –Jesus is Savior and “restorer” of our hearts.
This church is continuing to grow and flourish as it finds its missions to “reach out” and love the rest of the community no matter what economic class, ethnicity, addiction or name. So here’s my question: are some “followers of Christ” called to specific ministry with these populations of people? OR as we look at the life of Christ in the gospels should not ALL of us be prepared to minister to our communities no matter what economic class, ethnicity, addiction or name?
As our communities change and will continue to change we wonder why our churches are not growing but perhaps we if we step back and evaluate who we are as the church, we might see that we are not truly reaching out the “community” as a whole; rather, one sector of the community in which WE are most comfortable. Is this what being a “Christ follower” is about? Were the Lukan Jesus to step into your community today, who would he be spending most of his time with?