Discussion 3: Christ-Like presence in the community (3%)

[Dave]

1. Describe what a humble, Christ-like presence of the church in communities means, and give
examples of how this could be applied in practice.

Humility is a biblical characteristic that can be defined as the capacity to be without pride,
arrogance, or egotism. Jesus Christ is by far the best example of One who humbly followed God
the Father’s plan.

You need to explain what power there is in establishing and developing a humble, Christlike presence in communities based on the above-mentioned statement.

• How does this virtue of humility build bridges in a community?

[Mignon Duvenhage]

Jesus was such a wonderful example of a humble presence in a community. Phillipians 2:5-7 states, “You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had. Though He was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being.”

The Lord has gifted His church with many different gifts and therefore also many different ways to serve the community. He has also placed members of the church in various positions and spheres of influence within the community. A humble, Christlike presence means that the church firstly takes time to build relationship with various leaders, organisations, schools etc in a community, as relationships form the basis of any future impact. It also means that the church submits to the various authorities and chooses to serve and respect these leaders. It also means that the church does thorough research of real needs (not only perceived needs) in a community and chooses to get to know all the various organisations already helping in these areas. In this way, the church can partner where this is a possibility or rather strengthen already existing sources of help (instead of re-inventing the wheel and starting their own programs).

A church’s main focus should always be to live out Mark 12:30 “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is this, ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’” Humility is shown in the fact that the church has no desire to build an image to be proud of. Rather, they would love to be know for their service in the community and their sincere love for God’s people.

Celebration church is a wonderful example of a church like this for me. A few practical examples include the fact that they offer office space free of charge to the SAVF to better serve families in the community. Another example includes outreaches to schools and training offered free of charge to teachers. Celebration church truly is known as a church humbly serving the community of Mokopane! True love, authentic relationship, kindness and generosity are sure ways of building bridges in the community and drawing people to Christ.

[Author]

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