National Day of Prayer

Thursday (May 1) was the National Day of Prayer. Our senior pastor has been away on vacation (good for him), and so our church did not host the community service as in the past. Another church, one with a bit more charismatic flavor, served as the community venue. I certainly didn't expect a staid, buttoned-down affair.

My wife and I arrive about 15 minutes late (rehearsal at our own church) and they group was still singing its opening song set. I didn't know any of the songs, and found myself wondering "Where do people find these songs?" I vaguely recognized one and tracked its information down Friday. Now I just need to locate the music...

The evening was "energetic," but no overly so. There was a lot of "claiming" and petitioning God to clean up our country's messes. It got me thinking. Why do I approach these types of affairs with so much trepidation? I think, as I listened to the various prayers and pray-ers, that my hesitancy arises from the tendency people have to place God on the hook for our incompetence as His people. We've abdicated our societal responsibilities long enough that government and other organizations have stepped into the gap. They don't meet needs from a Biblical perspective--they're not the Church, after all--and we complain that they don't and aren't.

For example, the group used a prayer guide distributed by the national coordinating organization, and one area suggested several points to pray about the media. Some of the prayers--and suggested praying points--sounded downright naive! Then a thought crossed my mind. We individual followers of Christ are the Christian media.

If we aren't sharing the good news with family members, friends co-workers and acquaintances who are outside the Christian faith, we shouldn't complain about the movies a secular production house generates. Most of the outsiders don't darken our church doors, and if we keep sitting on our comfortable pews (or seats) awaiting for them to come to church, well we've a long wait. Rather than expend energy trying to "attract" people to church--there's a reason they're not coming--maybe we should try doing what Jesus called us to do: become fishers of men.

Fishermen study the habits of the fish they want to catch: where they swim, the kind of food they eat, the best weather to find them, the time of day they're most likely to be around. Bass, trout, pike, perch...all differ in these areas. A wise fisherman doesn't try to use the same equipment, bait or techniques for all of them.

Which means we need to become students of outsiders. Go to them and befriend them where they are, not where we want them to be. James defined pure religion as seeing to the needs of those unable to care for themselves (James 1:27). After that, we are to avoid becoming stained by the world. But to help people we will need to get dirty. We just don't have to wallow in it.

Anyway, we will conduct a prayer service tomorrow morning, meditating on Psalm 18, as a follow-up to the National Day of Prayer.