No, Wal-Mart hasn't started any churches, but if they did I could only imagine what they would be like.
Without going into a lot of detail I suppose the one thing that really strikes me about Wal-Mart is that every segment of our society can be found there. It appeals to every culture, language, and race of people. Their employees are often bilingual and in some cases multi-lingual. I'm sure you have noticed the same. In fact, if you wanted to do a demographical study of your area, just go to Wal-Mart and spend some time in observation. It will tell you a lot about the people who live in your neighborhood.
It is becoming increasingly more difficult for churches to 'run away' from changing neighborhoods. Relocation has, in some cases, become economically impossible, especially if the congregation has dwindled down to just a 'faithful few'. Moving to another area doesn't fix the 'problem' either, because newer neigborhoods are not exclusively one culture anymore but many.
What is the solution? It's simple. Bloom where you are planted!
O for our churches to look more like Wal-Mart.
If you would like more information on cross-cultural evangelism in your own neighborhood please contact us.
David P Smith
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5 comments:
When we lived on the Maryland-Virginia border, we often shopped at the Wal-Mart in Leesburg, Virginia. One night we counted more than 7 different languages being spoken in the one store! Talk about from all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues!
Maybe we should consider only planting churches where they are building new Wal-Marts. We know they go where the people are, we know they provide jobs and usually lots of housing developments occur around Wal-Marts. I know about the call of the Holy Spirit, but I also know we have been given a mandate and need no further leadership about just getting it done. Wal-Mart just gets it done as far as the business world is concerned.
A question to ponder and I would love to hear answers, would we be out of place to talk to Wal-Mart and see if it is possible to offer spiritual service (counselling, listening, advice from the scripture ets) from a booth in their set up, and be able to put a man or men in these locations and ahve a guaranteed audience?
I know people in my church who won't shop at a walmart 2 miles from their house because of the majority of minorities but will drive 10 miles to shop at another one because it is predominantly white there. There excuse is that the other one is "dirty" and not as clean.
They say that they believe we should reach all peoples but they really don't want to "live" with them. It's one thing to welcome all peoples into your church, its another thing to "want" all peoples in your church.
Where is the message of Grace in all that?
I am Hawaiian and my wife is a blonde from Sweden so, we've already got the diversity thing going on, LOL!
It has been my experience that many of our churches are "tolerant" of ethnic diversity but, I'm not so sure about real bonafide acceptance.
I fear that, even though this is the year 2007, we've still got a ways to go. Thankfully, the church that I am a member of is beautifully integrated and colorblind too.
Over the years it appears that tolerance has gotten better, in the area of racial 'harmony', but I don't know if there is real tolereance or just a loss of the will to fight amongst some of the older brothers and sisters. There was a time when some of our churches did not allow mixing at all racially, are there still churches with these rules on the books? This may be the way to see if we have come fully where we should be.
Sean
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