Blessing Our Neighborhood

"I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed." Genesis 12:2-3

A couple weeks ago I was the last one leaving the church after a meeting. I met an older couple walking through the parking lot, looking at our construction. I asked if they lived in the neighborhood and they said they did. In fact, they had been to Salem’s building. They had their condo association meeting in our facility, and they’d also come to one of the men’s dinners and voted at Salem.

I asked if they were part of a church already and they said they were. I said they were always welcome to walk on our property and look at the construction and eat at our dinners and vote and anything else. They said they appreciated knowing that. It seemed they felt like they were trespassing a bit until I told them Salem is a place that’s meant for the community and they are welcome whether or not they are part of the church. I told them we hope to one day have a walking path around the property and maybe some playground equipment too. We want our neighbors to feel welcome and enjoy the benefit of our existence.

The next week as I was leaving the building in the evening, once again I met two people in our parking lot. This time it was a mom and her son. He was playing with a remote control car and it was zipping up and down our parking lot. I said hello with a smile and a wave and asked about the car. The boy asked if I wanted to drive it and I said, “Of course!” It was a pretty cool car. He showed me how to use the handheld radio control and I got to zip the car around the parking lot too, though not nearly as fast as he did.

When I talked with the mom, she wondered if it was okay that they were running the car around the parking lot. I said, “Of course!” with a big smile. “You’re always welcome here.” She seemed a bit relieved too. I assured her we want to be a place where our neighbors feel welcome.

I asked if they were a part of a church anywhere and she said they weren’t. So I invited them to be our guest on Sunday morning at one of the worship services. I also answered her questions about the two services and told her about Sunday school for her son. But I guaranteed her they are welcome to play on our property whether they come to worship or not.

In our Genesis series in worship this summer, we heard again and again that the people of God, beginning with Abraham and Sarah, are meant to be a blessing to the earth. Salem exists for the sake of the world and that begins right in our own community. We want people in the neighborhoods surrounding the church building to feel welcome to come in any way, shape, or form regardless of whether they ever come to worship or become members of Salem. 

Of course, we want to welcome people and invite them to be a part of Salem. We want to lead them to be disciples of Jesus who transform the world. But if we’re going to be a blessing to the world, then we need to be a place where the people in the community want to come for exercise, fun, a meeting, a blood drive, a dinner or anything else. If we’re going to show others how to be the world God intended in creation, then we’ve got to be in relationship with them in some way.

When I left the parking lot those evenings, I was happy that I met some people from the community who came to Salem. They may or may not ever worship with us or be members of the church, but Salem is playing a part in their lives. Perhaps we are blessing them.