Are you serving the “least of these”? - January 26th, 2008

Is your church serving the “least of these”? Now, before your mind jumps to Jesus’ words from Matthew 25 and answer, “Yes, we serve the ‘least of these’ through our prison ministry, food pantry and visitation ministry” I am not actually referring to the people Jesus’ described as hungry, thirsty, strangers, naked and sick.

I am actually referring to the growing minority population in the U.S. On October 17, 2006, the nation surpassed the 300 million population mark. Seven months later on May 17, 2007, the U.S. Census Bureau reported that the nation’s minority population reached 100.7 million (”Minority Population Tops 100 Million” www.census.gov).

Census Bureau Director Louis Kincannon stated, “About one in three U.S. residents is a minority. To put this in perspective, there are more minorities in this country today than there were people in the United States in 1910. In fact, the minority population in the U.S. is larger than the total population of all but 11 countries.”

On August 9, 2007, the Census Bureau reported that nearly one in every 10 of the nation’s 3141 counties has a population that is more than 50 percent minority (”More than 300 Counties Now ‘Majority-Minority’” www.census.gov.

This is an exciting and challenging time for churches in the United States. It’s exciting because it’s like experiencing a glimpse of heaven when John described, “There before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb” (Revelation 7:9 NIV).

It’s also a challenging time because the majority of American churches are not designed or sadly even desirous of reaching their minority neighbors.

Most church leaders I talk to say their church wants to reach their community, but usually that only refers to their neighbors who look, dress, talk and vote like they do. Most churches structure their ministry to reach middle class families in the suburbs.

Based on the 2000 census findings, “nonfamily households–homes headed by a young single professional or an elderly (person)–now outnumber married couples with kids in the suburbs of the nation’s largest metropolitan areas” (”‘Nonfamily’ homes become more common in suburbs” Armas, Genaro, The Columbus Dispatch, February 26, 2002). The number of married-with-children homes declined from 28 to 27 percent.

When you combine these findings, the reality is your church’s present model for ministry may only be able to attract 27 to 66 percent of your community and therefore your church is ministering only to “the least of these.” Jesus called us to “reach the nations” and to be “fishers of men” but if the pool we’re fishing from is either shrinking or the “bait” we’re using doesn’t work on the fish in our neighborhood pond then major trouble is ahead.

To effectively reach our communities, it will require a concentrated effort to examine the strengths of each church and to employ strategic creativity to accomplish our God-given mission.