The Clinic and the Church

Every third Thursday of the month I drop the kids off at school and head to the local government health clinic. As a permanent resident of South Africa, I receive my monthly medicine for free, which is a wonderful blessing. On these trips to the clinic I am privileged to see another side of South Africa. First of all, of the 60+ people waiting in line, I am one of five or so white people, which includes the staff. Secondly, I am exposed to "the system," which many South Africans battle on a daily basis. A trip to get medicine at the clinic can last anywhere from an hour to two hours or more. Thirdly, before the clinic officially opens, I get to take part in an interesting "church" experience.

Although this "church" experience raises several questions for me, I must say that I respect the staff and enjoy watching them in action. They always greet the waiting crowd when they arrive to work. One by one as they come through the door, the staff give a big "dumelang" to those waiting on the pew-like benches. And, everyone in the pews returns the greeting. It's nice and friendly. You get a sense that the staff genuinely cares about what is happening at the clinic. I can't say that for most government agencies I've experienced.

Okay, so we've established that these are good-hearted people so let's get back to "church." Once the staff has arrived, one of them will come to the front of the counter and stand in front of the pews - uh, I mean benches. After a bit of small talk, they will begin to "preach" - not that we are getting exegesis, but we are getting Jesus. This little sermon can last anywhere from 5 to 15 minutes. I must admit, they are usually quite thought-provoking. After the "sermon" is over, we are asked to stand so that we can pray. Sometimes we are asked if there is someone who would rather not pray, but I've noticed that no one ever raises their hand. We all stand and pray out loud at the same time - what I have come to call "African-style prayer."

So, although I enjoy this cultural experience, it has raised some questions for me. First of all, I wonder if this is actually an abuse of position and power. Is this what Jesus meant when he gave us the commission to go into all the world and make disciples? Is this kind of experience honoring to those who don't want to participate? Or do the ends justify the means? "People hear the gospel," we say, "therefore, we have been faithful." Or have people heard the gospel. I wouldn't want a person of another faith to espouse their views at the clinic and then ask me to pray. I would probably feel violated because I had no choice to be there or not.

I also think we make a lot of assumptions about the place of the Church in society. I am often guilty of thinking that the Church needs to be in a prominent position in society in order to be effective. However, history shows that the Church is truly most effective when it is on the fringes of society. Having position, power and authority has rarely been an effective way of transforming people's lives.

I understand that I may have opened a whole can of worms here, but I do want to think through our methods of sharing the gospel and our ideas about being the Church. I have done some things in my past that were called evangelism, but felt more like I was being sneaky or taking advantage of people. These felt more like shoving the gospel onto people rather than sharing the gospel with people. How do we follow God in the way of Jesus so that we speak the truth in love while honoring people and giving them the best shot at hearing and experiencing the gospel?

Let's dialogue.