Let us preach. Let us care. Let us not apologize. [John 12]

Last night we were having a discussion and the pro photographer said that the mainline churches, such as the one her father serves in a lay capacity, cannot do anything new. And then we all thought (we are at my parents house: this is a week that I spend with them before the year starts in earnest) considered if this is correct.

And we thought not. The purpose of the church is to proclaim the gospel and care for each other. It has always been this. Christ gave us a new commandment to love one another.

When the church loses sight of their mission, and appeases those in power and those who use twitter, then they fall into the spirit of this age, and become ineffective.

And Christ will have his church. It will be pure. It will be holy. Though we, as building block of this, are neither pure nor holy, Christ will lead us into righteousness. By our love and our actions we will glorify God.

And make the elite hate us, as they hated Christ, and wanted him to speak from another’s authority.

And Jesus cried out and said, “Whoever believes in me, believes not in me but in him who sent me. And whoever sees me sees him who sent me. I have come into the world as light, so that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness. If anyone hears my words and does not keep them, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world but to save the world. The one who rejects me and does not receive my words has a judge; the word that I have spoken will judge him on the last day. For I have not spoken on my own authority, but the Father who sent me has himself given me a commandment—what to say and what to speak. And I know that his commandment is eternal life. What I say, therefore, I say as the Father has told me.”

(John 12:44-50 ESV)

The Pro Photographer has never lived in Auckland: I have lived the bulk of my life there. So yesterday I showed her the nice bits of central Auckland. I stayed away from the high-rise slums (on the waterfront: in New Lynn: in Upper Queen Street). I did not take her to the garages in Otahuhu with three people sleeping in them. But, in the discussion, we thought about these people: working, but to meet the rent overcrowding the house. There is some poverty in Dunedin: there is far more poverty in Auckland: scrape the tinsel and you find despair.

This may sound hard, but it is not the church’s role to provide shelter for all the poor, or to agitate for a better system. (The Victorians had a better system). It is our business to proclaim the gospel and care for our own. Those of our families and of the faith. We are not here to be part of a progressive movement. We are not here to provide good architecture and the foundations of culture. We are here to preach the gospel and look after each other.

We are not here to make great worship and have a wonderful concert: though this evening (the photographer will need to return home: she cannot have as long away) I will probably go to a very loud worship service. We are not here to build soup kitchens and provide medicine to the ill. These things are good.

But if we do not preach to gospel, woe to us. For we are no longer saying the words of Christ. We have shut a generation away from salvation so we do not trigger them. And for that we will be held to account.

If we do not love and care for each other first, and provide shelter and food to those in the congregation who need such, woe to us. For we need to show our love for each other: that will bring the pagans to us, and then the word can be spoken.

For the poor are always with us: I live in a social democracy where we have a generous dole, but we still have beggars on the streets and homeless. Praying for revolution does not feed them. Being local, knowing their needs, and using charity does.

And it provides not job for the elite to bully from, which a social welfare state does.

So, this Sunday, let us be the church. Let us preach. Let us care. And let us not apologise.