However, help would not come.  Scotland hadn’t held royal court since 1603.  Help from their federal government was about as likely as suddenly finding cell service when your car has broken down on a deserted mountain highway.   People would also not get any assistance from their local city government.   The city which had limited resources, was also led by a buffoonary of men.  They often held their meetings in taverns, acting more like drunken frat boys than officials running a city.  The possibility of the citizens of Edinburgh receiving help from anyone in government seemed bleak.

The people of Edinburgh faced a choice.  They could have left.  Truthfully, that is what I might have done.  I might have packed up my family and my possessions and headed out to the countryside.  I could have found a bit of land, livestock, and lived on my own far away from the problems found in the decaying prison of Edinburgh.  One man, however, did not leave.  He chose a second option, reform.

George Drummond was a hard worker.  He had to be to get ahead, as he wasn’t born into money or power.  George worked his way up through the ranks, first serving on the board of customs, then as city treasurer, and finally as Provost of the City.  It was as Provost where Drummond began his life’s work.

Revolted with what his city had become, Drummond launched the Commission of Proposals for Public Works, with an ambition to “improve and enlarge the city and to adorn it with public buildings which may be for the national benefit.”  It was an audacious goal, considering he had no money, government support, policy, or even the belief of the citizens that it could be done.  Undeterred, he fought like a heavyweight boxer to get legislation passed.  Slowly, over the course of more than ten years, legislation was developed and money was raised. City administrators, however, dug their heels in and drug the planning on for another year before finally approving the architect’s designs.  It was arduous work, but Drummond met the challenge.

Eventually the city would be improved.  George would begin the Royal Infirmary, one of the world’s chief teaching hospitals.  He was pivotal in seeing the University of Edinburgh expanded. The crown jewels of his accomplishments, which he wouldn’t live to see their completion, was the building of Edinburgh’s “New Town” and the draining of the Nor’ Loch.  The work would take most of his life, but Edinburgh would go from ghetto to renowned city because one man did not give up.

Unfortunately this would not be the last ghetto this world would ever see. The world we live today in is becoming increasing polluted. Hatred is ravaging our streets. The internet is littered with trash. Our schools are papered with violence and drugs. The sense of despair leaves millions worried and concerned. Society is hurting.  However, our society is not the ghetto, at least not yet.  The ghetto is actually created by the church’s response to this culture. One author put it this way:

Today, the lack of a “critical mass” of Christians who are visibly present in their communities may be the biggest single barrier to churches becoming local movements. With the secularization of the West, a great many churches have circled the wagons, often withdrawing into Christian enclaves or networks in which Christians socialize with each other; buy their homes, furniture, appliances, and cars from Christians; exercise at the churchâ€s gym (rather than the local health club); homeschool their kids or send them to private school (rather than the public school); and send their kids to Christian colleges (rather than state or secular colleges), while preparing to eventually retire in a residential facility for senior Christians. As Pope Francis has observed, far too many Christians now live in “a ghetto of our own making.”  George Hunter III in Go: The Church’s Main Purpose

A ghetto of our own making.  Many Christians, often with great intentions, make a choice to abandon the society around them.  They witness the hatred, violence, drugs, despair and decide to go live a life that is separate, more Godly, more pure and holy.  What they end up creating is indeed separate, however, it is something that is inbred, ungodly, and unholy.

The dead sea is an overplayed illustration, but it’s overplayed because it is often the perfect illustration, as it is here.  The dead sea is just that, dead.  It is dead because although it receives all sorts of nutrients from the everlush Jordan River, it has no natural outlet to let nutrients go.  Great nutrients come in, nothing goes out, things get overloaded, and everything dies.  It’s just what happens when you get too much of a great thing.  Unfortunately, this is also what the lives of many Christians look like.  They obtain all their healthy nutrients and vitamins from their walk with God, daily devotions, churches, and faith.  Then, like the Dead Sea, that is always receiving and never letting anything go, they too get overloaded and die.  Lots of christians dying in this way creates some rather abhorrent christian ghettos.

Other illustrations from the Bible make the point equally well.  Christians are to be the salt of the earth, a city on a hill, and the light of the world.  When Christians withdraw they end up being nothing more than salt in the cupboard, cities hidden behind walled gates, and lights only to their own homes.  We are not living the way God intended if we withdraw from society.

I can hear people saying, “yeah, but shouldn’t we support christian businesses?”  “Yeah, but are we not suppose to fellowship with other believers?” “Yeah, but God invented education, and christian schools to teach His word and values.”  Please don’t get me wrong, we should faithfully support christian businesses, fellowship with believers, and pray about whether God would have us send our kids to christian schools and colleges (in fact, I personally have attended three christian colleges and seminaries); however, we should also pray about how God wants us to be involved in our community.  The challenge might simply be, do we at least put as much time and prayer into how we influence our neighbors for Christ as we do trying to avoid them influencing us?  Do we actually think about how we can be a light into our kid’s schools, or do we just think about how to afford getting them out of the public school system?  Do we invite our neighbors over for dinner, or do we just enjoy hanging out at church potlucks?  Jesus, our best example, ministered to a lot of ungodly people, however, many christians spend all their time avoiding them.

Edinburgh was a ghetto.  The only way to fix it was to drain the swamp and build some new buildings.  Ignoring the problem wouldn’t have fixed it.  Moving might have saved some individuals some pain, but ultimately the city would have went completely to ruin.  Thankfully there was one man that stood up, worked hard, and made something better.

The lives of many christians today are ghettos.  The way to fix them, like in Edinburgh, is to drain the swap and build some new buildings.  We need to get out into our communities and build some new relationships with those around us.  We need to be involved in our children’s schools, coach their soccer teams, volunteer in community organizations and serve in city government.  We need to engage our neighbors and be the light to them that God has called us to be.

I said earlier that our society is not the ghetto, at least not yet.  I hope and pray that it never will be.  It is no doubt hurting, but if christians will stand up and engage the culture around us, like George Drummond stood up for Edinburgh rather than running the other way, I believe we can make this a great place once again for God’s glory.

Although reviews come quickly for restaurants, vacation destinations, and good deals on getting a used car, when it comes to sharing about the most important recommendation we can ever give, our faith, many remain conspicuously quiet.  If we found the perfect restaurant, that served the most delicious food, and was unbelievably cheap, we would recommend it to every person we knew.  In fact, we would probably go into work the next day and literally rave about the spectacular service and fantastic Banoffee Pie.  However, for those who believe and follow Christ, who have received the free gift of eternal life, who have literally had their life changed, and who have experienced something far greater than getting great meal at a great price, we rarely share about our experience.

Think about that for moment.  When it comes to our favorite ice cream stand we recommend it to friends, take friends to there all summer long, and post pictures of ourselves there on Instagram eating Moose Tracks out of giant waffle cone.  However, when it comes to our faith, our belief in Christ, or even our church, many of us never bring it up with others.  We don’t mention it to the coworkers we spend eight hours a day with.  We don’t mention it to friends we share our lives with.  We rarely even ever go there in conversation with family.

Maybe its because we don’t know that we are supposed to.  Perhaps churches are not preaching on evangelism and on sharing our faith, so we don’t know that we should.  Maybe we don’t know how, because churches are not teaching on how to share our faith.  Maybe it is because we don’t have many great role models for sharing our faith, because even pastors are not leading the way and telling others about Christ.  These are all valid possibilities, and are no doubt true in some churches, but I think their are actually three other reasons people don’t share their faith:

1. We do not really believe what we believe.  Most Christians say they believe in a literal hell.  A hell that is a place of eternal punishment, torment and separation from God and all that is good.  Yet, if we really believed that, and believed that our friends and family without Christ were going to spend eternity there forever, I think that would cause us to share our faith more vigorously.

2. What we believe has become routine.  We wake up on a Sunday, go to church for 75 or 90 minutes, sing some songs, listen to a sermon, chat with some friends in the foyer, go home and watch the football game.  Church, faith, and God is only a small part of our life and our weekly routine.  It’s not really something that is important to us so it never comes up in our daily lives.

3. We don’t really love other people.  If we believe in hell, but don’t warn other people about it, then we need to ask whether we love the people around us or not.   If we won’t take the time to tell them about eternal damnation, you have to wonder if we even care.

I am sure there are other reasons people don’t share their faith more often, but for Christians, who say they have had this most wonderful experience, we do have to wonder why they don’t talk about their faith more often.  The greatest recommendation a Christian could ever share is Christ.  So, who have you recommended Him to recently?