This week the place
where I live was violated. Children from
our city and our region, were cruelly killed and maimed. As you are no doubt aware, Manchester is
living through one of the most difficult weeks in its proud history. And in the heart of this city my colleagues
and I at Northern Baptist College have been getting on with the job that we
believe God has given us, the same job that the college has been doing for over
150 years, preparing people for servant leadership in the Church of Jesus
Christ. It hasn’t been easy.
On Tuesday, our staff
team travelled out of our shaken city for an away day. We spent most of our time naming, discussing
and praying for each of our students.
Today, back at Luther King House, our home base on Manchester’s famous
curry mile, we have been interviewing four people who believe that God is
calling them into Christian ministry, calling them in other words to devote
their lives to helping people to follow Jesus, helping people to love, to
serve, to pursue peace and to work for justice. To be involved in such a
process is always a profound privilege. This week it seems a particularly
fitting way to be spending our time.
Why?
Well, because the
slaughter on our doorstep has reminded us just how much our city needs
communities of people committed to living the Jesus way. When some might be tempted to let anger turn
into hatred, Manchester needs people who will remember that each of its
citizens, whether red or blue, whether African, Asian or European, whether Sikh
or Christian, Jewish or Muslim, whether northern-born or less fortunate, every
last one of us is first and foremost a human being, created by God, bearing the
image of God (however distorted) and precious in the sight of God.
As one of those
charged by my denomination to form the next generation of church leaders I have
to make sure that all our students remember what churches are for. No one can
be allowed to leave our college in any doubt whatsoever that our churches must
never become self-interested, seeking only their own wellbeing, neglecting the
communities that God has called them to serve.
They must never be allowed to think that mission is only about growing
bigger and bigger churches. They must never be allowed to devote themselves to growing
disciples simply for the sake of growing disciples without asking what
disciples are for, what difference disciples are supposed to make in the wider
world.
We need leaders who
will help churches become what they were always meant to be: communities of the
prince peace, the healer, the lover of outcasts, the one who would eat with
anyone whether he was supposed to or not, the one who wept for Jerusalem. Any church that does not seek the welfare of
its city is a contradiction in terms. Any church that forgets to build bridges
of reconciliation forgets whose church it is.
Any church that is content to let outsiders stay out has lost its way
and lost sight of its Lord. Any church
that thinks that this kind of stuff is none of its business is plain wrong.
That’s what I have to
remember. That’s what this difficult
week has reminded me. I pray to God that
I will never forget. I pray that you
will never forget either, even if you are not fortunate enough live in
Manchester.
One of the things
that people often say, when they are touched by tragedies such as the one that happened
on our doorstep, is, “I wanted to do something but I felt helpless.” If that’s you then thank God you’re are not helpless. If like me you name Jesus
as your saviour, there’s lots you can
do. Here’s six suggestions for starters.
1.
You can resolve to
remind yourself each morning that every person who lives in your village, town
or city is a child of Adam and Eve and therefore your brother or sister in God.
2.
You can commit
yourself to helping your church to become the kind of church that behaves a bit
more like Jesus.
3.
You can identify
someone in your community from another background, another race, another
religion and simply get to know them. If that sounds scary, start by smiling
and saying, “Hello.”
4.
You can find a group
that is working to build bridges in your community and join them, whether they carry
a Christian label or not.
5.
You can go on praying
the prayer that Jesus taught us pray, “… your will be done in my part of your
earth as it is in heaven” and then act like you mean it.
6.
And you can, if you
would be so kind, pray for my colleagues and me in the heart of our hurting
city, that we might be able to grow leaders who know how to grow churches who
know how to grow the kind of communities that will gladden the heart of God.
This first appeared on Christian Today
