Bleak. Depressing. Sobering. Sorrowing.

Bleak. Depressing. Sobering. Sorrowing.

A few days ago we drove through North County, St. Louis, where there is an ongoing war of sorts. A war of gangs on the streets, of emptiness, of desolation and brokenness.

It is a place where the average income is low and most neighborhoods are struggling not to fall into total chaos and anarchy. Where teenagers and young adults stand listlessly on corners, or huddle on porches, without direction, without much hope. It is a community where teachers valiantly battle the allure of easy money made in drug sales and gangs in order to give students a glimpse of what life outside those shabby streets can offer. It is a place where many doing the Kingdom work of God wage war daily against a variety of problems and enemies; where the battle can seem overwhelming, but they carry on regardless.

Pastors, church leaders, parents, grandparents, teachers, community leaders and brave souls look out each day into this stark landscape, with its mounting problems, and say, "I am going to do something about this today." They see the enemies and go forth to meet them.

One enemy is poverty: economic, spiritual, familial, personal. Where people are so mired in what they lack and have no idea how to attain that they just sink ever further. One enemy is greed; the gangs use the glittering image of quick cash as a "come hither" to lost youth, as tempting to them as the forbidden knowledge was to Eve and Adam. There is the enemy of broken homes and missing parents and the enemy of vulnerable sexuality, where young adults seek attention and comfort where ever they can find it, offering the only thing they have...themselves. There is the enemy of ugliness; where weeds grow tall and abandoned buildings loom and beauty is hard to find. There is the enemy of hopelessness.

Yet in this environment, the Kingdom work goes on. For those who love the Lord know that these streets are filled with the very people that Christ came to be amongst; these are Christ's streets and Christ's people, they just need to be reached for Him. That these aren't people worth writing off, they are people in need of love and hope and the Gospel. So the workers of God's kingdom roll up their proverbial sleeves each day and do His work.

The grandfather walking his young grandson to school; that is kingdom work.

The single mother of two, watching her children, and six or seven others of the neighborhood kids, play in the park, to make sure they are safe; that is kingdom work.

The women handing out the food at the pantry, regardless of whether the person coming in is of their church, or even faith, or not; that is kingdom work.

The couple planting flowers in the median of the streets, and pulling weeds out of sidewalks, and mowing the lawns of unkempt houses so that the whole area is endowed with beauty; this is kingdom work.

The youth group that visits the senior citizen's homes, to do yard work and painting, and to visit and care; that is kingdom work.

The mothers that stay up late praying over not only their children, but their children's friends; that is kingdom work.

The teachers that stay after school to help the struggling students, who never give up, and who purposely work in the harder schools, they are doing kingdom work.

The pastor, who visits, prays, preaches and still finds time to play pick up basketball in the summer with the at risk kids; that is kingdom work.

The man stopping to deliver sandwiches to the homeless, whether they are sober or drunk, with love regardless; that is kingdom work.

Everyone who lives, walks and works in those communities, who is trying to show God's love on a daily basis, even though they know the battle is uphill and the enemies are immense, they are carrying on the work of God's kingdom.

Sometimes in an inner city neighborhood it is easier to see the challenges, the work being done and the victories achieved. It is harder in the comfortable suburbs to see the rawness of life that much of the world experiences, and faith can become comfortable, dulled and ineffective. Too many people who think they belong to God are happy to sit in pews once or twice a week, tithe a little, and then live life in the pursuit of collecting material goods, instead of focusing on God's work and calling for the Church.

There is a battle being waged in the suburbs as well though; it is the battle to wake the faithful up. It is the battle against insipid preachers selling a watered down gospel of prosperity and popularity, and congregants lapping it up because they don't want to step outside of their sheltered lives. It is a battle of people choosing comfort over Christ, and walking an easy, sheltered path to hell instead of climbing the narrow road to heaven.

Christ calls us to more than that: He doesn't call us to prosperity; He calls us to purity. He doesn't call us to popularity; He calls us to holiness. He doesn't call us to comfort; He calls us to compassion. He doesn't call us to a safe routine, He calls us to action.

There is a battle going on in your neighborhood. Maybe it is your elderly neighbor fighting the enemy of loneliness. Maybe it your unemployed neighbor, fighting to keep from slipping into poverty. Maybe it is the local teenagers, who are trying to fight the world's messages and images, and who desperately need guidance and hope. Maybe it is your angry neighbor, who is hurting and closed off to the world. Maybe it is your disabled neighbor, fighting the enemy of isolation and inability and misunderstanding.

There is Kingdom work waiting for you. You don't have to drive into the inner city to find it. (Though if you are called to work on front lines such as these, there is always work waiting, and appreciation for another hand helping.) You can look about you and see what need there is, see what Christ is calling you to do and then choose to do it. You must, in this life, choose whether you are going to build your own kingdom, filled with your own needs, interests and priorities, or join in the work of God. Will you live the Gospel? Will you be the hands and feet of Christ around you? Will you go where there is need, where there is barrenness, where there is hurt, where there is loneliness and bring the light of Christ? Will you do kingdom work?

Be blessed, my friends, and may you be a blessing unto others,

Beth Butler