No One Left Behind

The Pentecostal church which formed me as a child had a strong interest in the Second Coming of Christ. On New Year’s Eve we were reminded that the Lord could return before the end of the new year. Bible teachers unfurled eschatological charts as big as billboards. The most colorful preachers had several messages which tended to frighten people into surrendering to Jesus. "The Lord could come tonight, and where will you spend eternity?" As late as the 1970's, Larry Norman’s, "I Wish We’d All Been Ready" was sung with an eye to the Lord’s return. We prayed, "Come, Lord Jesus!" and greeted each other with "MARANATHA!"

The emphasis needs to be revived in many quarters. The lack of urgency to live ones life in light of the Judgement Seat of Christ is dangerous and accounts for careless living. A whole library of books with "left behind" in the title seems to have done little to challenge the value system of the readers. Instead of an increase in missionary giving, per capita donations adjusted to dollar value is tragically moving in the wrong direction. An emphasis on holy living has been displaced by self-improvement themes. Additionally, the number of hours the American Evangelical church spends in church studying God’s Word, the absence of extended corporate prayer meetings and the dismantling of Sunday School makes one wonder if the church might be left behind.

Another "left behind" consideration which disturbs my sense of inner carelessness is that many of the world’s disenfranchised are effectively being left behind. The majority of new Evangelical church plants are being established among those who are financially upwardly mobile while the poor and disenfranchised are "left behind" in the cities. Days of compassion are good, but is no substitute for the ongoing presence of a church that continuously addresses the writhing pain of poverty, underperforming schools, limited access to health care, violent existence and systemic dysfunctions common in large cities. Revivalists come to the city promising the good life and then "leave behind" people with a list of broken promises, people who want what the preacher took when they were "left behind."

Urban pastors too often "leave behind" their parishioners, pulling away from their reserved parking places in a luxury car to enjoy the suburban comforts, conveniences and cafes. Their children attend first class academies inaccessible to those living in the zip code where the church meets. "Left behind" is a present condition for millions in the cities of the United States.

What can be done to resensitize us to the "left behind" realities with which so many live?
Church leaders can listen to and learn from those who need the compassionate and comprehensive ministries at which the church ought to excel. A day spent in listening to people would be good, a week of walking the streets, sleeping in the neighborhood, and allowing the Holy Spirit to prompt long-term compassionate responses would be even better.
Church members can pray, "Lord, how do you want me to get involved in sharing life and resources with those who have been ‘left behind?’" Or pray, "Is there a way to spend a day each week or once a month with a mother who struggles with the care of children while a husband is incarcerated?" Or, one may ask the Lord, "What is the most practical way of making church camp a part of an urban child’s experience?" Another prayer with powerful potential might be prayed by the most daring, "Lord, what barriers can we remove so that people in the city can gain access to what we enjoy and so that they are not left behind?"
Christians could, if they dared, ask their church to allocate a line item on the church budget for educating children in the city, preschool through university, so that no child is "left behind" and that urban children are equipped for leadership in the city and urban church.
The status quo will produce more of the same. It is time, in my opinion, for folk like me to ask the difficult question and make a no-compromise commitment to live out solutions so that no one is "left behind," now, and when Jesus comes! MARANATHA!