I have always been amused by Mall Maps, strategically placed to assist us through the mall maze.
Firstly, they help you to identify where you are, announcing your position with that bold red star * YOU ARE HERE. Valuable information for any individual needing to find their way. The interesting thing about finding directions is that usually, we know where we are, we just don't know where everything else is.
Recently, as a church we have been considering our way for the New Year ahead. We know where we are. As the church, we are here collectively, in the heart of the city of Victoria and individually we are spread throughout the surrounding environs of the South Island. Yes, we are here, but the big question is, "Are we there?"
It was Leonard Sweet, Christian historian and futurist who, speaking of the church's role in a post-modern world, insisted that, "No church has the intrinsic right to exist." He said it is not enough that we are here or as Sweet says, "it's not enough for a local church simply to be there on the corner without BEING THERE."
In fact, he suggests a church's right to exist is earned by the price it is willing to pay for those two words - BE THERE!
For most of us...we know where we are. Geographically, we know where we live, where we work, where we go to school, where we worship, we know we are here, "but the big question is "are we there?"
Are we there for a world that needs to know where Jesus is and who needs to see the love of Christ lived out through us?
The answer is...we have a new year to prove it.
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