Central Park: You “gotta” Play With Them
40 years ago (has it been 40 years? Yikes!), when I was a summer intern from Olivet Nazarene University at the Alanson Church of the Nazarene in Northern Michigan, Pastor John Carr, told me, “You’ve got to play with them to pray with them.” He meant that a pastor (or any believer) has to earn the right (via showing that one cares) before people will trust you to talk to them about spiritual matters.
He was right, of course. He’s more right now. (Can one be “more right”?). There may have been a time when cold calling on people by knocking on their front door; spewing out the Four Spiritual Laws or the Romans Road or some other evangelism plan; led to people trusting in Jesus. It might have worked then, not now. Knock on a stranger’s door these days, and you might be greeted with a Glock 44 instead of a crock of honey and crackers.
These days you need to “play” with them first.
This was proven last Friday as we opened Central Park. Our neighbors nearly outnumbered Central folks with the arrival of the first official day of the park. Kids were sliding on the slides; swinging on the swings; and seeing how fast the merry-go-round could move. Several of the parents talked to me about our church; thanked us for building the park and talked about their intention to “try the church out.”
You’ve got to play with them (literally). I told one neighbor one of our key commitments at Central Church is “to be the best neighbor.” His response, “You are!” Of course, that’s what we want to hear.
It’s not 1990. In 2023, people want to know you care. They are more suspicious than ever. Many have been hurt before in their religious experiences. They have seen and heard of too many faith based organizations that have broken the trust of those they were so-called serving. The news of Christians is not always positive.
The way to combat such thinking is to show folks a deeply religious experience can be different. Caring for the spirit, soul and body seems like a positively wonderful Christian thing to do. Paul wrote (in the verse all good Nazarene’s have memorized): May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Thessalonians 5:23).
That’s exactly what Central Park is hoping to accomplish! Through our efforts to care for the spirit, soul and bodies of our neighbors, we will have opportunity to share with them the sanctifying and peace infusing work of God!
