“You will be called a
Mender of Broken Walls; a Restorer of Livable Streets.” Isa. 58:12b
I grew up in denominations that was completely infatuated
with what happened within the walls of our buildings. In all the sermons I
heard during my childhood and adolescence (usually at least three a week, more
than 2,000 total) I cannot ever remember once when we were challenged to get
out of our sanctuary and go into the streets to serve the community. Oh, we were
challenged to arm ourselves with our huge, “I’ve seen Jesus” Bibles and knock
on doors with solicitous questions about eternal destination and issue the
threat of damnation, but never did we feed a homeless person in our city’s
center (just a few blocks away) or build a home for a single mother. Our “get out of hell free card” was punched
and we’d be happy for you to come join us, but don’t expect us to do much else
for you other than provide a cadre of religious experiences and emotionally
charged worship services.
These
churches had adopted the “a might fortress in our church” form of ecclesiology
and, despite praying for God’s “kingdom come” every week in worship, lived like
we were God’s kingdom just waiting for God to come and get us.
As I got older I did something radical. I read the gospels.
The penetrating, self-giving life of Jesus began to penetrate my soul and I
recognized the disparity between what we were doing “in church” and what the
people of God were called to do in the gospels. Let’s face it, a relationship
with Jesus will really mess you up. When I took these theological questions to
my pastor, he shrugged them off saying that we were in “the end times” and that
God would put everything right, our job was to simply remain faithful and recruit
people into our spiritual tribe. I mean, according to the man I thought held
ultimate spiritual authority, we are essentially the only ones who have it
right. The rest of those poor souls were destined for hell so we better bring
in as many as possible. Only one thing troubled me, that didn’t sound like the
Jesus I read, the one who healed wantonly, invited constantly, and gave his
life selflessly. Shortly thereafter I left that church and began some spiritual
wandering.
Now, years later, I am being given an award for serving my
city. Being named a N.C. Main Street Champion is an amazing honor and one I am
humbled to receive. You see all I’ve tried to do during the five years I’ve
lived in Rocky Mount is to be actively engaged in the community I’m called to
serve. After reading the gospels, the works by John Wesley who challenges us to
live lives of “personal holiness and social holiness,” and books by authors
like Leslie Newbigin and Reinhold Niebuhr, I have come to realize that we are
all invited to do all we can to make God’s kingdom a reality now. I have taken
up the challenge to make a difference in the city I am in. I believe that it is
time for the people of God to be more interested in serving the city, than just
serving in the sanctuary. That we must be active in building bridges, and not
just holding one more Bible study. That if we take seriously the words of
Jesus, we must actually work every day to restore our city, and not just conduct
an annual prayer walk.
It is time for the people of faith to begin serving in the
city, not just the sanctuary. I love worship. I love the gathering of the
“saints” for the worship of God. I love a good old-fashioned revival service
with stirring sermons and music that shakes my soul, but when the service is
over the service should begin. How can we claim to be transformed by encountering
the presence of the Son of God who gave his life in service to the people who
crucified Him and not get our hands dirty rebuilding our city? I am not taking
about having one more service, I am talking about building homes for those who
need shelter, feeding hungry children, and using our church networks to find,
recruit, and encourage businesses to return to long abandoned facilities and
re-start the engine of growth and prosperity in our community. We do not need
one more worship service, we need the people in our worship services to move
out into our streets and create opportunity. We need to join Nehemiah up on the
wall and start rebuilding the city one brick at a time.
The people of God in our community also need to begin building
bridges, not just holding Bible studies. I believe that most people of faith
are already educated well beyond their level of obedience. They know what to
do, they just don’t do it. I love to study scripture. I love to teach Bible
studies, hold prayer meetings, gather the faithful and pray, but prayer should
lead to action. Go back and look at the Bible; every time God shows up in a
person’s (or people’s) life there is a challenge to “go.” God never invites
them to just sit in the temple and only worship; on the contrary, God is about
scattering the people of God as frequently as He is about gathering them. We
must build bridges that overcome the deep divisions of our community. If those
who agree on Jesus can’t overcome the divisions of economic disparity; racial
injustice; and poverty then our city will continue to struggle. I love working
with our city's leadership, our leaders have a genuine heart of servitude and a desire to
make our city better, but at no time has government been the answer to the
issues we face. “We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against powers and
principalities.” If the faithful will lead, the leaders will become faithful.
It is time to build bridges.
Finally, the people of God need to begin working, not just
walking. I love our annual prayer walks where people from various churches
visit city sites like the Imperial Center, the Veteran’s Memorial and City Hall
and pray over our city. After five years I’ve noticed something, it is during
those walks that I see people downtown who I never see downtown at any other
time. They come and pray for the city and then abandon it for the rest of the
year claiming that it is “unsafe.” Funny, a look at crime statistics says the opposite;
downtown is actually safer than some of the
“nicer neighborhoods.” We need to keep
walking, don’t get me wrong. We need to keep walking and praying, but it is
time that we also begin working. We need to look at the entrepreneurs and
business owners in our congregations and say, “this is your city.” We need to
help them see that God’s kingdom can be restored by the faithful work of God’s
people investing in the future of our community.
I received this award because I am constantly bringing
people downtown and asking them to see the potential of our city’s center. I
walk them by buildings that need to be restored and ask them to see brew-pubs
and antique shops, restaurants, galleries, and entertainment venues. I even
have the dream to create a place where young adults can live and work for the
good of our city while living downtown, but I need you to believe it with me.
The restoration of the heart of our city, like the restoration of our personal
hearts, will cause renewal. Hope will be restored, and when hope is restored,
life and light returns and dark must retreat.
I thank those who nominated me for this award. I have
learned much from those who mentor me like Rev. Garland Jones of Mt. ZionChristian Church and Ron and Hillary Vetere who own Bel Air Artisans Center
and live downtown. They are the real downtown heroes because they have put
their lives and livelihoods on the line by staking a claim downtown. Thank you
to the dedicated staff of the City of Rocky Mount, past and present. I thank
God that he didn’t give up on me but called me to a city where I believe He
seeks to have the people of God renew their commitment to serve the city, not
just in the sanctuary.
Consumed by the Call,
Dr. Marty J. Cauley
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