Making Jesus Relevant in Auckland

I am so proud of our SIBI-trained team in Auckland! Long before their departure they were thinking about their strategies to preach and live Christ on the field. They have been in the Auckland suburb of Massey only a few months but have already begun being Christ to that community. This post by Elijah Peters (far left in this picture) reveals a little bit about how they are making Jesus relevant.  If you want to see the post and some neat pictures, go to their blog here.

Several months ago we were informed that a local playground (Triangle Park) would be receiving a major renovation and would be celebrated in the community with a Grand Re-opening Event. The park I am referring to, if you can remember, is the one in the backdrop of our Kia Ora Episode #74. Through the years the park had aged considerably and the graffiti was starting to piling up, and among other reasons, it was just time for an improvement. And so construction began.

From the time of the ground-breaking until the park’s completion the Ely’s would serve as the team’s ambassadors to the Park Re-opening Committee and secured for us an amazing opportunity to serve the community. Plans were set into motion, preparations were made, and with the arrival of November 30th we were geared and ready to serve our community with over 530 free drinks, a smiling face, and a helping hand in life to all who care to take hold of it. That was the plan, until God took hold of it!

It soon became clear that our 530 drinks would not be enough (it was a hot day and there were a lot of thirsty kids). With nearly an hour remaining in the event I had to make a quick stop back up at the store to purchase another 200 drinks. WOW!

We were also flooded with questions about our Mission Statement. “Why?” you may be asking yourself. Well, because there were prizes being awarded at random to people who filled out a short quiz. The questions were compiled to encourage people to visit each of the booths to become better acquainted with the services offered by the various organizations present for the Park Re-Opening (our local ministry being one of them). To answer the questions you’d have to talk to someone representing the organization. As you may have guessed, our question was asking what our Mission Statement was. This offered us an amazing opportunity to share a bit of God’s vision for this community.

Another highlight was a revelation, or a realization you could say, regarding the state of our community. We have long been aware of the fact that Christianity is quickly becoming a thing of the past here in New Zealand, and our community here in Massey is really no different. That being said, it is becoming much more clear the reasons for this decline. Sparing you all the boring analysis, I can summarize the issue in stating that Jesus is becoming more and more irrelevant to the people here because the church (in general) has become more and more irrelevant in this community. Of course it is easy to sound hyperbolic or exaggerative with that statement, I wish not to offend the good-intentioned believers of Jesus in my community (those whom claim that title), but many, and unfortunately most, of them are absent in the community.

I ask, where was Jesus when the city-government sought help to address the homelessness issue in West Auckland? Where was Jesus when the community cried out for more volunteers for after-school youth programs? Where was Jesus during the “Family Violence Awareness” events? And where was Jesus when another child came home to their single parent,…a family to an empty refrigerator,…a teenager to neglect, depression, hopelessness? Where was he?

Jesus wasn’t there because the people claiming to follow Jesus weren’t there. Jesus didn’t show up because those claiming to follow in his footsteps didn’t show up. And so Jesus has become irrelevant in our community. There have been but a few public servants, a remnant group of people under the banner of Jesus standing up for the community where they need it most…opening the doors to make an eternal difference in the lives of those precious souls. Unfortunately there are too few of us standing up. Is it then any surprise that Jesus has become irrelevant to the vast majority of people in our community? They’ve heard that he lives here, but he’s been under house arrest, they’ve never seen him.

So, here I am, at the Triangle Park Re-Opening event, and it has dawned on me that the Church needs to be remodeled to this community. I’m not talking about any one specific church, and obviously not the buildings themselves, I’m talking about bringing Jesus back into the community. Letting Jesus out of our churches, out of our private homes and into the community where he stands the greatest chance of transforming lives, reconnecting relationships, and redeeming his creation. I’m talking about the people of Jesus touching every facet of the community, from the greatest to the least, turning the world upside down, taking risks, being loved, being hated…..being Jesus in a world that has been allowed to stray too far away from it’s true residence in the house of God.

As Christians we must be aware of the fact that Non-Christians and Unbelievers don’t fret, nor do they worry themselves about not being in church on Sunday’s. Conversely however, it is my growing concern that we as Followers of Jesus don’t worry enough about our absence in the community.

I believe God had something greater in mind when he opened the door for us to serve our community at the park the other day. Our plans, our preparations were little compared to what he would end up doing. As each of the 730 drinks left our possession there was a seed of hope being planted in our community. With every smile was a seed of love being sown. With every offer of service to the community was a seed of “God with us” being realized . . . perhaps, for the very first time. And until all have a chance to know I will stand up.

“Are you sure it’s free?”

“Yeah, it’s free!”