When It Snows on Saturday

According to the weather reports this morning, if we're going to have a snow fall of gigantic proportions, perhaps up to 20 inches, it's good that it is happening on Saturday, on the weekend! If I heard that sentiment expressed once, I heard it expressed on every weather report I listened to this morning. All gave a brief nod to the things that would have to be cancelled: holiday concerts, Christmas shopping, visits to the gym, parties with friends. I kept waiting for one of them to mention that churches would have to cancel worship; but none of them did.

Why am I surprised? The Christian Church is often viewed as insignificant in today's culture. Yet, I guess I thought that it would be factored in during a season of the year whose underlying foundation is the Christ child though I know that marketers have made it about family, a perspective that seems to be winning!

When it snows on Saturday, perhaps it is an opportunity for those active in the Christian Church to take a look at why it is ignored; why it fails to be on the radar of local reporters within a week of Christmas.

In a world where people daily are experiencing loss in their professional and personal lives, how can the church rediscover a way to be relevant? How can it be a vessel of grace to a hurting world?

The weather reporters remind me that it is urgent that we answer these questions so that when it snows on a Saturday, especially the Saturday before Christmas, they will recognize the importance of the Church's role in the community and include it in its reporting.