I don't talk about my faith often on this blog and for the most part try to stay away from the topic of church and churches. I believe faith is a very personal thing, but today I want to briefly discuss
Christ Community Church of the South Hills' decision to build a Community Center in Mt. Lebanon. Before I do, I should mention that I believe that being judgemental is one of the most frequently abused sins. Even more objectionable, many Christians (I believe sinfully) judge one another in the name of God. For this reason, I
question the building of the CCSH's Community Center, I
don't judge the decision nor those who made it.
That being said, does Mt. Lebanon need a community center? Is God best served through a ministry inside Mt. Lebanon (or as we used to like to call it growing up, "the bubble")? The new community center will have no less then 5 churches within a mile or two on the same road, so it would seem the community's spiritual needs are being met. Lebo is also one of Pittsburgh's centers of affluence, certainly not in need of a community center to serve its poor.
The
pastor's blog lays out his hopes for the community center:
Our intention is to join in the work that God is already doing in this neighborhood and by faith, contribute what we can to the promotion of flourishing in this community. And by the grace of God and the empowerment of the Spirit, perhaps God will use us in some way in the work that God is doing to bring all the broken and dislocated pieces of the universe together again in Christ.
I challenge whether they could not have found a more broken and dislocated piece of the universe to unite in Christ.