WHY THE CHURCH SHOULD
BE LIKE AN OIL COMPANY
When you hear the term "Oil Company" what comes to mind? Unless you're from Texas, or Alberta (the Canadian equivalence of Texas), I imagine your mind soon fills with all sorts of nastiness. Pollution, oil spills, ugly refineries, faceless, money-grubbing corporate North America at it's finest. Hey, oil companies even make Microsoft look good! (Just kidding. No law suits please.)
Well, I'm here to tell you that my opinion about at least one of these companies, has changed. The Canadian Subsidiary of Chevron located in Calgary, Alberta is on the cutting edge of some fine ideas. It seems that out of some three hundred employees, more than one hundred of them are involved in community service projects such as, fund raisers, various school programs, and community playground development. And, here's the kicker, all of these employees get paid by the company for the time they spend serving their communities. The result? A better image for the company, and happier, more productive employees. Who wouldn't want to work for a company who pays you to make a difference in the community in which you live? What a great idea!
The thing is, if Corporate North America can come up with ideas this good, why can't the Church? Seems to me that many, if not most Churches are making little impact on their communities. Oh, we might have the occasional food drive, or something like that, but often the Church is seen as an exclusive club made up of people only interested in pointing their fingers at the community, or cutting themselves off from it. In other words, in most communities there is a lack of trust in the Church. There is an "us versus them" attitude that doesn't do a lot for our image or our opportunity to share the Gospel.
What would happen if Christians got involved in making their communities better? What would happen if Christians got involved in things that weren't strictly "religious", but all the same were beneficial to family, community, neighbour? Geoff Clarke, a fine lad, despite the fact that he's one of my friends, is a member of his local volunteer fire department. He helps keep his community safe by providing protection from fires, and education in the schools. Not only that, but some of the other firemen have come to realize that Christians are real, almost normal people just like them. As a result, after putting a healthy string of garlic around their necks, they've braved the frightening unknown and showed up for worship in the church where Geoff serves.
One of the newer peoples coming to our fellowship is an amazing person by the name of Ingrid. She goes past a rather large, rather popular church to come to us. Why? Because she got to know Sheila, my wife, at book fairs and school trips. She liked the fact that Sheila was friendly, helpful, involved, and not too pushy! Last winter I taught a Community School class. This year, I've been teaching a technology class for grades three and four. What an opportunity to help out our local school, and get known in the community as well.
Now, I believe it's our number one calling to preach the Gospel. I also understand that our community, our country, our world can't be really changed unless sin is dealt with and hearts are changed. But, I also realize that it's our duty as Christians to be good neighbours, and good citizens. Let's face it, the church is often criticised for being an institution that's only interested in money and power. The Church, much like oil companies, needs some image adjustments! It's about time that we got out of the church building and into our communities. If people see that we're involved, and that we care, maybe, just maybe, they might want to hear about the Truth of God's love through Jesus Christ our Lord!.
Prayer
Lord, help us to understand that we've been called to make a difference in our world. Lord, we realize that the way to do that is ultimately, to share the Good News that changes lives, but we also know that you have called us to serve, to be examples, to love all people, and to touch lives with Your grace. Lord, may all we do bring honor to Your Name and growth to Your Kingdom! Amen!
