The Vine Madison

One of the Vine's core values is an outward-focused mission for the people around us. As we have been selflessly loved by God, we selflessly desire to love, serve, and sacrifice for the people of our neighborhoods and city.

Along that same line of thinking, Tim Gaydos, pastor at Mars Hill Church in Seattle, shares 11 gospel-centered ways to love your city:

1. Reach out to “the least of these” in your city.

Who are the downtrodden, forgotten, or underserved people in your city? Start a mercy ministry to reach out to these groups. Create a transition plan for homeless people from shelters into community. Jesus tells us that whatever we do for the least of these, we do for him.

2. Get involved civically.

Set up a meeting with your mayor or city council members and find out specifically what your city needs. Then rally your church or Community Group to help meet those needs. Start attending your neighborhood association meetings and volunteering your time to make your city better.

3. Throw parties and invite your neighbors.

This could be anything from a get-together in your apartment to a full-scale neighborhood block party. The transient nature of many cities can lead to neighbors barely knowing one another. Sometimes all it takes is to initiate by invitation!

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As Wisconsin continues to experience political unrest heading into recall elections, and another national political campaign season gets under way (does it ever really end here in America?), we should think carefully about our responses to the political divisions in our community.

Our pastor Zach Nielsen, on his blog Take Your Vitamin Z, shares a meaningful quote from Tim Keller, pastor at Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York City, on how the gospel transcends political alignments and the power struggle but how Christians are nontheless compelled by the gospel to be radical players in how society addresses its problems:

Secular people have a strong belief that religion is really just about social power. There is a need to place every church somewhere on the ideological spectrum, from liberal left-wing to conservative right wing. But the gospel makes the true church impossible to categorize. Justification by faith brings deep, powerful psychological changes: 'Though I am sinful, I am accepted based on the good of Another.' This truth converts people.

On the other hand, the gospel of the Cross and Kingdom brings deep, powerful social changes. It defies the values of the world: power, status, recognition and wealth. The gospel is triumph through weakness, wealth through poverty, power through service. This changes our attitude toward the poor and toward our own status, wealth and careers. A gospel-centered church should combine zeals that are ordinarily never seen together in the same church. This is one of the main ways we make people look twice and take our message seriously.