"Loving Your Community" (Stephen Viars)

TITLE: Loving Your Community
AUTHOR: Stephen Viars
PUBLISHER: Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2020, (240 pages).

The greatest commandment according to Jesus is simply this: Love the Lord our God with all our heart, our mind, and our soul. The second is to love our neighbour as ourselves. Saying it is easy. Doing it is hard. That is why love is easier said than done. Many churches budget for outreach programs as part of the Great Commission. Such outreach generally comprises evangelism, mission, social concerns, and community outreach. If I can use one word to summarize all of the above, outreach would be quite appropriate. Whether local or foreign, near or distant, the reason churches exist must be for the sake of proclaiming God's kingdom far and wide. The moment churches become inward-looking, that would not only compromise their calling as the Bride of Christ, that marks the beginning of the end for their existence. Author and pastor Stephen Viars shares his over thirty years of experience serving the community both inside and outside of his Church community. He shares his work and ministry in this book driven by one objective: Helping us to default from "Saying NO unless you have to say YES" to "Saying YES unless you have to say NO."  He knows the appalling rate of outreach among many churches that choose to play it safe and to keep their resources to themselves.

The title of the book is taken from the first three chapters on biblical foundations.

1. LOVING in the Name of Christ
2. Meeting YOUR Community's Pressing Needs
3. Caring for the welfare of Your COMMUNITY

He uses the opportunity to show us some Old and New Testament teachings on what it means to love; the way Jesus loves the community; and how God called the Israelite community to care for their neighbours. Woven into the chapters are several real-life stories (community impact stories) of how churches conduct successful outreaches to their communities. There is Hope Chapel Outreach that holds Friday Family Night gatherings for the homeless, the unemployed, those from the lower end of the socio-economic strata. There is the story of Travis who was ministered to in a skateboard park because of believers taking the initiative to share their lives and the gospel with the teens gathered there. There are also marital counseling, biblical counseling sessions, opening up church facilities for the community, and so on. Instructional classes are opportunities to share from the Word of God for relevant topics like marriage, family, parenting, financial management, life skills, etc. 

With a keen understanding of the mindset among many church leaders, Viars includes a chapter to answer "common objections" to what he is proposing. Some of these include the part about liability when we open up church facilities to the public. In a litigious society, this is one of the biggest obstacles for churches. Buying insurance is already expensive. Opening up the Church to such activities would not only increase the basic insurance premiums, they also increase liability for the Church. 

My Thoughts
Viars shares a lot of initiatives that we can all learn from. He is also careful not to portray his book as another "social justice" resource. It is essentially a way to share the gospel by living out AND speaking forth the gospel. Often, churches that get involved in social justice matters stop there. The gospel is to be verbalized in order to be heard. I appreciate the many practical ideas Viars has presented. They are tested and proven to be effective. That said, every Church has to decide which is most appropriate for their contexts. One of the key encouragement in this book is the non-assuming manner taken by the author. He does not presume that readers take the ideas in the book immediately and to apply them. He understands that such initiatives (some radical) will take time to germinate. After all, it took him over thirty years before he has the knowledge, the wisdom, and the conviction to write this book.

How should church leaders respond to this book? Three things. First, be open to what Viars is sharing. He knows the risks involved in stepping out of our comfort zones. There will be opposition from within and threats from without. The gospel cannot be constrained by these barriers. We are called to reach out to the community in love. Love always involves risk. There is no such thing as a no-risk endeavour. Faith is about taking risk on others in the hope that God will back us up. Even if we do not visibly see fruits, trust that God will work out the good in His good time. Second, be intentional about what the Bible teaches us. Some readers in their eagerness to read this book might skip the first three chapters of the book on biblical foundations and jump straight into the practical chapters. Without the biblical foundation, any emotional and physical energy expensed on the outreach initiatives cannot be sustained. Only the Word sustains and this is most necessary. Once the seed of the Word is planted in our hearts, it will be allowed to shine forth as we minister to the people with the gospel of truth verbalized through what we say and do. Thus, whenever anyone asks us why we are doing what we are doing, we can automatically share: "Because of the gospel of Christ; or because the Word of God has taught me."

Third, start with practicing one action item from this book. As the famous saying by Master Xun says, "I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand." Often misattributed to Confucius, this  saying is a good reminder that we learn best through earnest practice. At least, begin by working diligently at the questions at the end of each chapter of the book. Discuss the ideas in your small groups or your leadership committees. Pray. Seek the Lord on what creative ways these ideas can be relevant for our communities. Talk to community leaders like the mayor, member of parliament, grassroot leaders, non-profit representatives, other churches, etc. Last but not least, share this book or buy it for someone.

Dr. Steve Viars has served at Faith Church in Lafayette, IN since 1987. Pastor Viars leads and equips Faith Church as Senior Pastor with a focus on preaching and teaching God’s Word and using his organizational skills in guiding the implementation of the Faith Church mission and vision. He is a frequent speaker at conferences, colleges, and seminaries in the United States and abroad.

Rating: 4.5 stars of 5.

conrade

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This book has been provided courtesy of Baker Books and Graf-Martin Communications without requiring a positive review. All opinions offered above are mine unless otherwise stated or implied.