A few months ago I had dinner with Paul Washer in his hometown of Metropolis, IL (ooooohhhhhh….gratuitous name dropping! ) I bring it up not to arrogantly display the stamps in my passport of theological and church superstars but because the more time I spend in my city the more and more I’m reminded of our parting conversation from that night.

“If people in our circles (reformed, evangelical, Christian) walk out of your Sunday morning service, pat you on the back and say, ‘Well done Jamie, you’re really going to be successful here.’ you probably aren’t going to be” he said.

“But if they walk out, and after passing out of your earshot say to themselves, ‘did you see the people he had in there? They’ll never be able to financially support and maintain a church start here!’ then you’re doing what you need to be doing and you will make it.”

Finally, he said, “Love your people. Not just the people who come to your services and your small groups. Love the people of your whole city.”

Is I walked around the city today trying to settle my urge to tell people about Jesus, the Gospel, and our new church I had the opportunity to meet and talk with a lot of people who said they weren’t part of a local church. A few of them were dressed well, a few of them weren’t. A few of them were black, a few of them white, a few of them hispanic. A few of them seemed like they had it together, a few of them seemed like they didn’t. All of them needed to hear the Good News of Jesus’ sinless life, substitutionary death, and glorified resurrection. And all of them need to experience the life transforming power of the Gospel shown in the changed hearts of the people of our church, marked by a willingness to encourage and share the Gospel with our whole city as well as a desire to both love inwardly into our church community and outwardly towards the community of our city.

I hope that all of them, these people whom I met today, will experience our values of Gospel, Mission, and Community through the growing influence of our new church here in DeKalb. And I hope that they, and our whole city sees our love for them.