How Do We Respond?

Read this great blog post today from a blog I follow...

How Do We Respond?
By Jay Hardwick on Vision

I jumped back into Nehemiah last week. Nothing refuels the vision for Catalyst better than reading this guy's story. Last Thursday, this verse grabbed me and has yet to let go:
"When I heard these things, I sat down and wept. For some days I mourned, fasted, and prayed before the God of heaven." - Nehemiah 1:4
The context is that Nehemiah asked one of his brothers who was visiting from Judah how things were going back home. The report of the city being burned and the people walking around in defeat led to Nehemiah's response. The report he received was so bad that he literally could not even stand up. And beyond that, he wept. Not shed a little tear. He wept. I imagine his weeping to be the convulsing, stomach-tightening type of weeping.
I have to ask myself, "Do I respond with the same kind of emotion to the depravity evidenced in Greenville?" Saturday at the Egg Drop, on three separate occasions, as I looked out across the field and saw all those people, I literally had to fight back tears. Yes, I was so very excited to see that many people in one place. But that's not why I fought back tears. The only thought in my mind was, "Most of these people have no idea what's available to them through Jesus. WE HAVE TO TELL THEM!" Even now as I am typing this, I am seeing a replay of Saturday and all the people...their eyes, their faces, their expressions...and my heart is clinching wanting so desperately to lead our church to always be RELENTLESS in figuring out how to reach those people. That relentless spirit is born out of our response to depravity.
God is doing something in our church right now and it's a result of what He's doing in my heart and in the heart of everyone on staff. Everyday, I get multiple emails from CCers who are responding the same way. The bottom line of it...God is teaching us to respond to depravity the way He does.
Do we seriously think God is happy that 60% of Greenville has something better to do on Sundays than involve themselves in the irresistible environments of a local church? Do we seriously think God is happy that most churches are very resistible and have little to no influence in the community? Do we think God is happy that most churches and "Christians" have decided that everybody knowing everybody is more important than everybody knowing Jesus?
Uhhh...I'm going to say He is not happy about that. I think God weeps over cities where authentic Christ-following has been lost in religious protocol. I believe He weeps over churches that have decided "us 4 and no more" is easier to achieve than "to the ends of the earth." I believe He weeps over those of us who call ourselves Christians yet ignore the depravity all around us on our way to our Beth Moore Bible study or our pot-luck fellowship.
How you and I respond to depravity is evidence of how close to the heart of God we are.
If it doesn't bother us that 3 out of every 5 people we see everyday in Greenville don't go to church, then we're far from the heart of God. If it doesn't bother us that most churches are half-empty at best on Sundays while Wal-Mart, Target, and Home Depot are packed, then we're far from the heart of God. If it doesn't bother us that lost people live, work, and play all around us, then we're far from the heart of God. If it doesn't bother us that people in Greenville suffer all alone because of HIV/AIDS, homelessness, domestic abuse, poverty, child abuse, etc., then we're far from the heart of God.
If we weep and cry out to God on behalf of our city, our church, and the people all around us who desperately need to know Him, then we're moving in the right direction. As He did with Nehemiah, God will blow our minds with His response. And, He'll call us to action...