Reflections On A Week In Mexico
When Matthew records Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount in Matthew chapter five, the first of the beatitudes is recorded like this – “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven”. Luke shortens this phrase and leaves it simply as “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours in the kingdom of God.” (Luke 6:20). Now it could be that Luke means exactly the same thing and has taken “in spirit” as an assumed part of the phrase, but it could be more. In fact Luke gives great attention to the poor in his gospel and frequently brings them to the forefront. The question is left for us though – is there anything great about being poor?
It is hard to imagine, especially living in such a materially saturated society that being poor could have a blessing to it. Often the poor of society receive the worst of public education, the least of health care and live life entirely in the day with no security of tomorrow. So what is it that God could possibly have for them?
I spent last week in Mexico, in the state of Sinaloa and the city of Los Mochis. On the outskirts of this fairly rich town is a small colony called Santa Alicia. If all you ever were to see of the town were a few photos of the roads, houses, and businesses you would probably feel sorry for them. But if you took the time to step into their culture and live amongst them your view would most likely change. Mine definitely did. I no longer feel sorry for these people, but rather I feel sorry for us – especially when it comes to church life.
During our week in Los Mochis we held a VBS for about seventy children of this small community. A community smaller than most American neighborhoods. I could not believe how many children could come from such a small area. But is this the blessing? No, but it gets us close.
Two things were apparent as the week went on. One, the children had no place else to be. If they had come from wealthy families they may have been in a million other areas – Disney World, soccer camp, vacation, etc. But they were not. All they had was church and that is where they went. And there they heard the gospel, daily, and in fun ways. Not so here in Florida. Church tries to compete with a million other activities (which we usually do not have the funding to do, or at least do well) and end up taking last place to every other event on the calendar.
Secondly, there is a greater emphasis on family. No one seems to be chasing career dreams. For certain, those careers are not there to chase. Job opportunities are small and business is not booming by any stretch of the imagination. People find great joy in their children and they are in abundant supply. Again, what seems to be a curse is a blessing. The people have church as the heart of the community and it is the central focus of their social activities.
We need to be careful how we pray for our mission teams when they go out from our church. We need to pray that they will see as God sees and not as our culture sees. The poor are blessed and God is in their midst doing many wonderful things. When we go to our own churches this week we will look at the empty pews and the vacant nursery beds and realize again that indeed the poor are blessed and that a culture bent on the gaining of wealth has sent our children from our church rooms and into the streets.
When Matthew records Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount in Matthew chapter five, the first of the beatitudes is recorded like this – “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven”. Luke shortens this phrase and leaves it simply as “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours in the kingdom of God.” (Luke 6:20). Now it could be that Luke means exactly the same thing and has taken “in spirit” as an assumed part of the phrase, but it could be more. In fact Luke gives great attention to the poor in his gospel and frequently brings them to the forefront. The question is left for us though – is there anything great about being poor?
It is hard to imagine, especially living in such a materially saturated society that being poor could have a blessing to it. Often the poor of society receive the worst of public education, the least of health care and live life entirely in the day with no security of tomorrow. So what is it that God could possibly have for them?
I spent last week in Mexico, in the state of Sinaloa and the city of Los Mochis. On the outskirts of this fairly rich town is a small colony called Santa Alicia. If all you ever were to see of the town were a few photos of the roads, houses, and businesses you would probably feel sorry for them. But if you took the time to step into their culture and live amongst them your view would most likely change. Mine definitely did. I no longer feel sorry for these people, but rather I feel sorry for us – especially when it comes to church life.
During our week in Los Mochis we held a VBS for about seventy children of this small community. A community smaller than most American neighborhoods. I could not believe how many children could come from such a small area. But is this the blessing? No, but it gets us close.
Two things were apparent as the week went on. One, the children had no place else to be. If they had come from wealthy families they may have been in a million other areas – Disney World, soccer camp, vacation, etc. But they were not. All they had was church and that is where they went. And there they heard the gospel, daily, and in fun ways. Not so here in Florida. Church tries to compete with a million other activities (which we usually do not have the funding to do, or at least do well) and end up taking last place to every other event on the calendar.
Secondly, there is a greater emphasis on family. No one seems to be chasing career dreams. For certain, those careers are not there to chase. Job opportunities are small and business is not booming by any stretch of the imagination. People find great joy in their children and they are in abundant supply. Again, what seems to be a curse is a blessing. The people have church as the heart of the community and it is the central focus of their social activities.
We need to be careful how we pray for our mission teams when they go out from our church. We need to pray that they will see as God sees and not as our culture sees. The poor are blessed and God is in their midst doing many wonderful things. When we go to our own churches this week we will look at the empty pews and the vacant nursery beds and realize again that indeed the poor are blessed and that a culture bent on the gaining of wealth has sent our children from our church rooms and into the streets.
Comments
Good point, but harsh man.
Thanks for the insight.