You cannot separate the church and community; here are a few thoughts about Crestview’s alcohol ordinance and the comments being made:
The church is not a building. I understand that this word — church — is often used in reference to a building that a church utilizes for worship services and ministries; however, this is divorced from the word’s original intent.
The word church referred to people who would gather and then go back out into their community. If you were to read the Bible, you would never see the word church used to refer to a building but always in reference to Jesus Christ’s followers.
Community and church cannot be separate if freedom of speech and religion exists. If we understand that the church is not a building or institution, but rather people who are a part of a community and assemble regularly for corporate worship, then we must understand that there is no way to silence these people if we value freedom of speech and religion.
Those who are not of the faith can disagree with the opinion of the church and, if it is the minority opinion, it will likely not win. But saying that their opinion is to be dismissed is dangerous, just as dismissing the opinion of an agnostic is dangerous.
The church should be with the community. As pastor of a church just outside Crestview’s city limits, I am concerned that many are portraying churches as being against the community; and I think there is some validity to that opinion.
At the risk of isolating myself from many fellow pastors, I find it unfortunate that there is an us-versus-them mentality from some of our local churches and, while I don’t represent those pastors, I just want to make it clear that they do not speak on behalf of all churches either.
I am encouraged by the work Paul Lowery and others are putting into evaluating what is best for our city’s welfare. I was encouraged by the following statement about him in Samantha Lambert’s article: “He said he’s visited other Main Streets in Florida cities where similar alcohol ordinances have been introduced and responsible business owners have been allowed to succeed.”
Mr. Lowery — and council members — serve the interest of all of our community and, while some pastors like Joel McGraw think, “The drinking of alcohol can be limited and stopped. Stopped is best,” not all churches agree with that statement and certainly not all residents of North Okaloosa County agree with Pastor McGraw.
The church is valuable to our community. To those who are not a part of the church: Based on some of the things being said by church leaders, I understand why Johnny Alexander made the statement, “If you want a say in what goes into our downtown area, I suggest you start paying taxes like those among us who are trying to establish a livelihood in downtown Crestview.”
However, I assure you that the effects of changing tax exemption status for churches in our area would be far more damaging than beneficial and, as was pointed out in one comment, church members pay taxes. Church members paying taxes is indeed the church paying taxes, as the church is not a building; it is the people who gather in that building.
To the church: Our culture is changing on the state level and on the national level but God doesn’t change and His plan for the church doesn’t change. Pray for our leaders (1 Timothy 2), respect our leaders (Romans 13) and build bridges in our community to help people see that we love them regardless of what they believe about — you fill in the blank. This is what will give you a voice in our culture (2 Corinthians 5).
If we are confident in our faith, then we don’t need to defend it — we need to live it! This is what has and what always will bring about the church’s growth.
When the church grows, their influence in culture grows.
The Rev. James Ross is the lead pastor of Mosaic Church in Crestview.
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Division on alcohol issue unfortunate