This is the heart of God. He does not put the burden of overcoming barriers on the least reached, but He and us with Him, are to break out of our inner sanctuary and holy huddles, throw wide the doors of the Church and the arms of our community.
OM Global Board member Andrea grew up in Germany but has spent a considerable amount of her adult years living and working across the globe. She has a passion for Global health, equal education and community development.
During my holiday last month, I walked parts of the St Birgitta Way in the North of Germany. One thing that I found sad and frustrating, was that many church buildings, monuments of the saints who have gone before and small congregations gathering in this least-reached part of Germany were locked up. There is a felt need to protect the church and everything in it from vandalism.
Standing outside such buildings made me think about access to the good news and access to the Kingdom of God.
It seems to me that, sometimes, we are living like these village congregations. We are more focused on protecting our heritage, our values and our history than on giving access, creating pathways and inviting in those who are seeking God.
We protect the holy place, the sacred space, but who are we protecting it from, and who are we excluding? It feels to me a bit like what we see in the Old Testament with the Tent of Meeting and later the Temple.
In those sacred spaces, the Holy of Holies was at the centre, behind a heavy curtain. Then there was a room for those who knew how to behave, members of the congregation. Then a step back, was the court of the women. And then in the outer court was a place for the Gentiles, who looked in from the outside, invited but still excluded. The foreigners, the widows, the orphans and eunuchs were valued, provided for and even cherished — as verses we often point to when we talk about reaching the poor, marginalised and vulnerable clearly show — but in the end, they were still excluded from participating in worship and citizenship in the Kingdom.
Do we in our mission to the least reached sometimes still operate out of this Old Testament model? If you picture least-reached people, is our picture of ministry a picture of an inner courtyard for those in ministry, then one for those in the Church, then one for others who are allowed to observe but experience obstacle after obstacle if they want to experience, take part and enter the Holy of Holies?
In Christ, the picture is very, VERY different. The apostle Paul wrote:
“Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.” — Ephesians 2:19-22 (NIV)
As we take time to pray for the nations, I want to invite you to meditate with me on this chapter in Ephesians 2. Pray for this picture that Paul paints for us, that this vision of the house of God will become true.
Yes, we need and want to worship at the Holy of Holies, but let’s also turn around, gaze out and see Christ has torn down the curtain! He has moved out of the tabernacle, He has broken through the walls and removed all barriers from His side.
This is the heart of God. He does not put the burden of overcoming barriers on the least reached, but He and us with Him, are to break out of our inner sanctuary and holy huddles, throw wide the doors of the church and the arms of our community.
Like Philip in Acts 8 we are called to 1. listen to God, 2. be obedient and go, and 3. have open eyes for those on the road, those who seek, even if they are as different from us — as an African eunuch and high official of a pagan queen is different from a Jewish man from a humble background.
Let’s be the temple rather than hide in it, let’s make room for new living stones, enlarge the tent, not build new outer courts. Then we are praying with the vision and heart of God.