{"id":37664,"date":"2021-09-04T11:56:49","date_gmt":"2021-09-04T16:56:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/?p=37664"},"modified":"2021-09-04T11:56:49","modified_gmt":"2021-09-04T16:56:49","slug":"truth-is-not-geographically-convenient","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/truth-is-not-geographically-convenient\/","title":{"rendered":"Truth Is Not Geographically Convenient"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\t<p>by Perry Hall<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/isolated-church.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/isolated-church-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" \/><\/a>I&#8217;m not a fan of &#8220;Field of Dreams Evangelism.&#8221; That is, &#8220;Let&#8217;s build a church building on the other side of town to make it easier for people to come to church.&#8221; In other words, &#8220;If we build it, they will come.&#8221; Good intentions, but I doubt much evangelism will take place if it is designed around sinners seeking a building and not around saints seeking sinners.<\/p>\n<p>Think about these two biblical teachings:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>First for Israel. The temple was not geographically convenient except for those who lived in Jerusalem. Still, God commanded pilgrimages to Jerusalem for certain holy days. Israelites could offer the same sacrifices on a closer high place, but God forbade it. Do we today pick a church based upon geographical convenience instead of fidelity to God? Truth is not geographically convenient.<\/li>\n<li>Second, for sinners. John the Baptist preached in the wilderness. Who wanted to hear? &#8220;<em>The whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem were going out to him, and they were baptized by him in the Jordan River, confessing their sins<\/em>&#8221; (Mark 1:5 CSB). Somehow, probably by word of mouth, people heard. Word of mouth is evangelizing. John could have gone to the city for convenience, but he didn&#8217;t. Are we willing to tell others about Jesus, even if they have to travel across town or to another city? Or do we think, &#8220;They will never come because it&#8217;s too far. Let&#8217;s start a church on that side of town.&#8221; People will travel in comfortable cars for multiple miles if someone recommends a great restaurant. Truth is not geographically convenient.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Instead of a &#8220;Field of Dreams Evangelism,&#8221; let&#8217;s try this: &#8220;<em>Then he said to his disciples, &#8220;The harvest is abundant, but the workers are few. Therefore, pray to the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into his harvest&#8221; <\/em>&#8221; (Matthew 9:37-38 CSB).<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>by Perry Hall I&#8217;m not a fan of &#8220;Field of Dreams Evangelism.&#8221; That is, &#8220;Let&#8217;s build a church building on the other side of town to make it easier for people to come to church.&#8221; In other words, &#8220;If we build it, they will come.&#8221; Good intentions, but I doubt much evangelism will take place&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27],"tags":[511,536,451],"class_list":["post-37664","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-apathy","tag-preaching","tag-teaching"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":68531,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/seeking-a-church\/","url_meta":{"origin":37664,"position":0},"title":"Seeking a Church","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 25, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jefferson David Tant So, you are moving to a new town, and you have various decisions to make. Where is a nice neighborhood? Are there any houses there that I can afford? Where is the nearest shopping center? How close to my job do I want to live? Is\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Article&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":28446,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/five-imperatives-in-evangelism\/","url_meta":{"origin":37664,"position":1},"title":"Five Imperatives in Evangelism","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 10, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"by Royce Bell Trust God's Power Ever remember: For all we do, at whatever cost and in whatever numbers, the positive results of any effort are attributable to God and Him, Alone. For example, note the words of Paul, \"I planted, Apollos watered, but God was causing the growth\" (I\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Article&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":46060,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-sponsoring-church-arrangement\/","url_meta":{"origin":37664,"position":2},"title":"The Sponsoring Church Arrangement (Longhenry)","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 22, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"by Ethan R. Longhenry God wills for all people to be saved in Christ Jesus (I Timothy 2:4; II Peter 3:9); Christians must go out and proclaim the Word of the Gospel to their fellow human beings (Matthew 28:18-20; Romans 10:14-17). The local church, as the Body of Christ manifests\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Article&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":93923,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/communication-fuel-to-the-fires-of-evangelism\/","url_meta":{"origin":37664,"position":3},"title":"Communication: Fuel to the Fires of Evangelism","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 13, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jim Deason via\u00a0Biblical Insights, Vol. 14 No. 8, August 2014 \"Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation\" (Mark 16:16). It is called the Great Commission, and so it is. First given to the apostles, the work of Christians everywhere is to take the gospel\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Article&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":56551,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/church-is-not-like-it-used-to-be\/","url_meta":{"origin":37664,"position":4},"title":"Church Is Not Like It Used To Be","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 2, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"by Kent Heaton Going to church is not like it used to be. Church services have turned into places of entertainment and frolic and high-pitched computer-generated displays of excitement, energy, and temporal feelings of self-worth. Auditoriums are filled with choral groups arrayed in splashing displays of sparkling gowns with sound\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Article&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":66842,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/are-you-making-disciples\/","url_meta":{"origin":37664,"position":5},"title":"Are You Making Disciples?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 1, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jefferson David Tant The last words of Christ, recorded by the apostle Matthew, are known as \"The Great Commission.\" They are found in Matthew 28:19-20: \"Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Article&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37664","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37664"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37664\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37664"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37664"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37664"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}