For several years I've been helping as a volunteer for our neighborhood association. The purpose of the association has been to encourage people to keep our neighborhood in good condition, mow lawns, look out for our neighbors, etc.
The discouraging part of the years that have passed is the downward spiral of our urban neighborhood. The association still exists but in spite of my comments about underscoring city codes for buildings, lawns and automobiles parked on lawns, there are instead nice little coffee times with soup suppers and other social events.
There is a monthly newsletter that is published and the area assigned to me comprises about seventy to eighty homes. I deliever the newsletters, talk to neighbors if anyone is at home, and often lament over the drift downward. Some residents simply reply that we shouldn't expect much for this working class neighborhood. However, many of the older retirees who worked in Wichita's factories for years, keep their homes and yards in showcase condition despite their advancing years. I try to keep our yard in pristine shape and when I view the changes around me it reminds me that it has a lesson for the church.
Too often it is easier to "dumb down" our efforts to be inclusive of everyone instead of trying to help, encourage, and admonish those around us. One young teen on our block remarked to me one day, "You're rich!" I asked her where she got that idea. She said that since my house always looked so nice and my lawn mowed and flowers blooming, that I was rich. I informed her that taking care of what God has given us doesn't make us rich. It makes us grateful so that we want to care for it. Incidentially, we live in a bungalow with less than 900 square feet but it is neat, comfortable, and the yard is a place of peace and beauty.
Maintaining our Christian life also means that we commit to God what He has given us and use it to the glory of God. Believers do not look for shortcuts but always focus on the One who "became poor so that we could become rich." These are challenging days not only in our neighborhood but in our lives as Christians. It's a time to focus...on Him! George