Renovation Project

Renovation of cities and neighborhoods has recently become a more popular movement as we realize the need to help make positive changes where we live. I am a believer in the need for responsible citizens and Christ followers to invest deeply in their community. Leonce Crump’s book, “Renovate: Changing Who You Are By Loving Where You Are” echoes that sentiment in a way that made me exclaim “Yes!” several times while reading it.

Leonce is a pastor in Atlanta who understands the need to be committed to your present city while being fueled by a passion to facilitate positive changes. He issues a powerful challenge in his introduction by telling his readers they are in their current location to be part of God’s solution and meet the need around them. This is in opposition to the societal norm that applauds transience. Pastor Crump instead is looking to reinforce the principle of having a “theology of place” and staying somewhere long enough to help contribute to positive change.

His book isn’t just a challenge to work long-term towards lasting change, but also to eradicate segregational barriers that prevent true unity. He encourages readers to identify everyone through the eyes of Christ to see the “new humanity” and “new community” we are called to have through the cross of Christ. This is a passionate plea to work together in our neighborhoods with respect and commitment so we can see a partnership of lasting renovation.

Leonce is obviously passionate about the need for the church to be a leader in true renovation and he isn’t afraid to share hard truths. He made me think very carefully about my own efforts to make a difference and to make sure my motives were clear. He was able to clearly communicate tough principles without seeming judgmental or condescending. His book was challenging enough to make me think about driving to Atlanta just to spend some time with him and see how he is living these principles out. I definitely recommend it to anyone who wants to be part of positive change in their community and wants to be part of something that lasts.

On the Go

I had the privilege of speaking at a local high school FCA breakfast (Fellowship of Christian Athletes) this morning and it reminded me of teaching high school, working in youth ministry and the fondness I still have for those times. Even after leaving the high school itself I spent many hours on campuses building relationships and visiting youth and adults. This is still an area of enjoyment for me even though it isn't my primary calling anymore. I enjoy the energy level, raw passion, and creativity of teens and it reinvigorated me to walk in their hallways this morning.

The bigger principle at work here is one that I always held firm as a value in reaching others. We have to leave the church grounds and spend time on the turf of people we want to influence if we are going to be effective. It's actually part of Jesus' commission to His Church-the simple command to GO. If we are going to lay claim to following Jesus we have to find ways to go into areas as His disciples.

A church that isn't on the move really isn't a church at all.

Effective Treatment

When I worked in athletic training there were injuries that were obviously acute--meaning they had occurred as a result of immediate trauma on the playing field. This could be a broken bone, a serious contusion, or a flesh wound. While sometimes serious, the course of action was fairly well laid out for immediate treatment and recovery.

Things became more complicated when you were unsure if the injury was acute or chronic. Some damage would go unnoticed by an athlete until it finally compounded enough to appear. These could actually be the result of chronic conditions and while acute treatments might alleviate immediate pain they wouldn't address the underlying problem.

We can be guilty of this in how we handle problems in our relationships and our community. If we don't recognize the ongoing nature of issues we end up throwing temporary solutions at them without having a lasting effect. To be truly effective we need to recognize the root issue and find a way to address it. It's the difference in dropping one meal off for a family without groceries or working together to change the factors that have contributed to the lack of food. One will be immediately appreciated and short-lived while the other corrects the root cause.

If we fail to recognize the difference between acute & chronic issues we can keep ourselves busy, but never truly be effective in fixing the problem.

On the Ground

My wife & I spent some time in a local community this evening as we look for ways to partner with the people there. We wanted to see the condition of their local community center and get a better feel for how we can help them. Our church has invested in this neighborhood in our town for a while and we are looking to increase that commitment. While I have had several recent conversations with people about what is needed, I knew that the best way for me to gauge the situation was to put my own eyes on it. I'm a visual person that needs to see things for myself as I process.

I think it's a valuable principle for almost all situations. If we want to make the biggest possible impact we need to have first-hand experience & observation as our guide. Once we've made an individual connection our desire to make a difference is more personal. It's after that level of involvement that we truly become passionate about transforming a community.

Impact

We are in Savannah, GA at the Next Level conference at Savannah Christian Church with our staff & some of our elders this week. It's always a challenging & uplifting time for us and is a powerful way of proving Mark Batterson's axiom correct: Change of place + change of pace = change of perspective.

A question that has been mentioned several times today & rolling around in my head is this: if our church would disappear from our city, would it affect our community? In asking this question I am not discounting the power of God to continue His work no matter what the earthly circumstances are. It is more of a focus on making sure that God's church is fulfilling all that we are called to be in our community. We should be such a beacon of hope, grace, mercy, love, and salvation that our absence would create a void. It is the same impact we should seek to make with our individual lives-not for our own name's sake, but so that we would be powerfully effective for the advancement of God's Kingdom.