My wife and I traveled to a basketball game in Dubuque a couple of weeks ago. We went with another couple who also had a daughter who was a cheerleader. The man who drove works as an attorney in the trust department of a local bank. As we were just about home I mentioned to him that we had three new banks in our neighborhood. One was about two years old, one just opened in February and the third is currently under construction.
He commented that several years ago bankers thought that with the use of ATM’s new bank buildings would probably not be forthcoming. Somehow that prediction has fallen by the wayside. People do use online banking, direct deposit, and ATM machines. That is not going to change.
Some of us like to still talk to a person at the bank. One of my frustrations is to call a business and get a recording with a menu of options that is a mile long and you don’t get to talk to a real person. I recently learned that if you just press “0” that you will get to a live person. Have we become so impersonal and disconnected from people? Then you call Iowa District East, you will be greeted by a live and friendly voice unless you call during morning devotion time 8:00-8:15AM when the answering machines picks up the calls. In this impersonal fast-moving world in which we live, are we becoming disconnected from relationships with people? How does that impact the church and the message of the Gospel? I think it has an impact in this way. Are Christians taking the time to develop relationships with those who are outside the church and living apart from Christ Jesus? Are we too busy or too tired to get to know our neighbors who may be unchurched or dechurched?
God has placed His people in a variety of vocations out in the world. It is out in the world where we are “light” and “salt” as Jesus says in Matthew 5:13-16. Every person we meet is someone for whom Jesus died! They need to know why they need a Savior and what the Savior has already done for them. St. Paul declares: “This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself as a ransom for all, the testimony borne at the right time” I Timothy 2:3-6.
As we connect with people out in our mission fields, what Paul declares in Romans 10:9-10 can begin to happen: “that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you shall be saved; for with the heart man believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.” All people need the Savior because of sin. Paul said of his own life: “It is a trustworthy statement, deserving full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, among whom I am foremost of all” I Timothy 1:15. What a privilege we have to connect with people and bring them to our churches where they can receive the gifts of God, namely forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation.
