A recent Sunday morning message prompted me to consider the potluck tradition of churches. Part of the origin is to simply bring what everyone can in order to share. There’s no need for everyone to bring only for themselves and widen the gap of those who have plenty and those who don’t.
We bring and share. That’s a good thing.
But why are we so much better at doing that within the church than outside the church? Shouldn’t we be even more generous outside the walls of the church? What if we treated our communities similarly—as if each church is one unit of the whole, and everyone brings what they can and shares it throughout the community? I think we’d be more sacrificial. We’d be much more present and engaged in the community. We’d spend less time within our buildings and more time building relationships and serving outside of it.
I know some churches excel at this, thriving outside the church building and coming together only to worship and be discipled and better equipped for serving. But instead of rationalizing what we’re already doing as “enough,” why don’t we consider what more we can do, how much more sacrificial we can become?
How about extending the church potluck to the community and taking what we have—especially ourselves—to share with people who are most in need?
You can start today. Build relationships with neighbors. Notice strangers. Share your life with others. Get out of your comfort zone.
Pure Purpose 