“The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart,” that is, the word of faith we are proclaiming: That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. As the Scripture says, “Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame.” For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!”

Good mission statement?  There are lots of ways to preach and send.  Literally preaching is surely important.  So is showing love in other ways.  It’s hard to contemplate the Good News when your family’s hungry.

You can’t send without showing confidence in people’s gifts.  And of course, no one can be sent unless they’re willing to reorder their life enough to make the time/energy.

People make these as a way to express their grief and feel like they’re doing something about their loss. The church used to provide a place for that.  We used to be the place where people gathered to express their loss and comfort each other.   A memorial service followed by a reception used to be the place where people would find meaning and hope in a senseless loss – where people could share their pain, share their stories,comfort one another, and offer support.  If we wanted a lasting memorial to a person, we would donate to the church’s memorial fund and our loved one’s name would be recorded where future generations could read it.

But where do you go if you don’t have a community like that?  How do you find hope if you don’t have the hope of the gospel? Where do you go to share stories?

I think that these roadside memorials are a sign of spiritual hunger – of people’s search for meaning and longing for more in life.  We’re desperately trying to create it for ourselves.

I wonder how the church might respond.  I wonder if there’s a way for us to meet that need again the way we once did.  I wonder if we could make ourselves available for memorial services or even places to memorialize someone in a more permanent way.  How could we let people know that we’re there for them in their time of crisis?

What are your ideas?

On a recent coffee run I saw a sign at a local restaurant located near a major freeway.   “No Public Restroom (Customers Only),” it read.

The sign was posted on the front door where everyone would see it – in fact, that and the hours were the only things posted there.  It reminded me of a church I interviewed with years ago.  The church was having trouble reaching out to younger people, but when teens started hanging around outside the church so they had posted “no skateboarding” signs all over.  “They chip the steps,” I was told.  “Couldn’t you put a concrete repair line item in the budget and welcome them in?”  I asked.  Needless to say, I was not invited to pastor that church.

Isn’t there a way that the restaurant with the “no public restroom” sign could use the traffic to their advantage?

I’ve written previously about some issues we face again and again in the church I pastor.  One of them is a concern about the cost of food and drinks after worship.  “Can’t they eat at home?” some ask.  “What’s wrong with asking for a small donation for food – for those who really want to eat?”

We’ve found that when we don’t charge for things like coffee, snacks, paperback Bibles, devotional books and  sermon CDs, people feel welcomed and loved.  And they come back!  Our family grows and our financial needs are met.

Some time ago, I visited another restaurant – a Round Table Pizza – when I was on the freeway with a child whose bladder was about to explode.  They had a sign that said, “Our restrooms are for everyone.  If you’re not a customer on this visit, we hope that one day you will be.”

• Which sign had more impact?  (Note that I remember that Round Table Pizza restaurant and its sign years later.)
• Who made better use of their chance to interact with the public?
• What model is a better one for Christ’s church to emulate?
• What opportunities might we be missing right now???

I hadn’t realized this until my wife was radio “channel surfing” this morning. She came across a Christian radio station and they mentioned “the Lord Jesus Christ.”

“Is that a CD mom?” he asked.
“No. It’s on the radio.”
“Yeah, but is it the iPod playing over the radio?”
“No, it’s really on the radio. It’s a Christian radio station.”
“It’s about time!” Johnny replied.

My kids have an innate awareness that this isn’t a Christian world in a way that I never did. It will be interesting to see how that affects the way he sees being a follower of Jesus along the way. He’ll probably help me learn to be a pastor in a post-Christian world too.

OK, I’m not a big Nintendo Wii player, but why are people so disturbed by this image of Jesus? Check out a blog entry about Mission Bay Community Church’s attempt to reach people by using the culture. The blog post by “Ryan” at the Two Small Coins blog does a nice analysis.

Our church used secular Easter culture by featuring a chocolate bunny in our local newspaper Easter ad, “You can’t live on chocolate bunnies.”

Is the Wii Jesus using humor to reach people? Or has it gone too far? I think it’s funny and challenges people in a nonthreatening way that tells them that church doesn’t have to be stuffy and boring. But others might argue that it doesn’t take Jesus seriously enough.

What do you think? As we move farther away from a Christian Culture, the church needs to decide where to use culture and where to challenge culture. This is just one of many chances for us to think about it.

NOTE FOR THOSE WHO DON’T FOLLOW VIDEO GAME CULTURE: The Nintendo Wii video game system allows users to create a version of themselves called a “Mii” (pronounced just like “me”) by choosing hair, eyes, skin color, etc. That’s what Mission Bay is playing with.