Going where the people are

If you live in metro Atlanta you know where the people are...they're sitting in traffic somewhere.

They're sitting in traffic on their way to one of the several malls.

Or they're passing through on one of the several interstates stopping long enough to visit a strip club. The Georgian Bible belt has several churches (seriously it feels like every corner) and enough strip clubs nearly to match.

Atlanta feels like it's a large metropolis of malls. And no substantial public transit to get to them so traffic is a requirement to getting to a mall. Or anywhere.

Once upon a time Christians would go to where the people were. In the place that I choose to worship it's in our DNA--we went to the bridges, the bars, started the shelters, etc, etc. I still go under the bridges but haven't been on a tavern route in a long while. I'm trying to get into the strip club within walking distance from my office but I think God requires more of us, more of me.

Now where do we go? What do we do?

Do we expect people to come to us?

We expect people who need physical things to come to us--shelter, help with a bill, food--but what about the other people? We are comfortable sharing with a certain subculture because they need us for their physical survival. But what about those who don't come to us for welfare services?

The people who are sitting in traffic on their way to malls where they spend themselves more into debt and continue to live unhappy lives (I know I'm generalizing, but still)?

Why aren't we in traffic--on billboards (the cost is an issue, and we would probably just market ourselves instead of share the gospel)? Although I do have some ideas for billboards...

Why aren't we in malls? Andy says we have 'nothing' to sell and wouldn't make enough money. Maybe it's because we're too set on only caring about 'poor' people but everyone needs to know about God, right?

I thought about a fair trade store where we could sell goods from our locations all around the world. Andy, the realist that he is, says it would still cost too much to ship it to the U.S., etc.

So what do we do?

How do we tell them?

Do we care? Or do we live in our lyrical state of only being around like-minded people so we don't have to think about it--and argue about a mosque being built at Ground Zero in NYC while ignoring the larger xenophobic issues?

I like to say that it's relational--one person at a time but there are so many people who pass by who we never take the time to speak to or to care about. We do it every day. So is being relational really the answer if we don't incorporate it into every are of our lives?

We went to Lenox Mall today to visit the Apple store. My ipod hasn't been working right which is annoying when I'm trying to run so I am ready for an upgrade. We had a snack and sat on a bench and people watched. So many people with nice clothes carrying expensive packages and they look miserable.

There are so many people and no one is telling them.

How can I tell them?

I want a solution. Our society NEEDS a solution. What do we do next?

LORD, please help me to be faithful!