Most of us know all to well that most communities are separated by a set of train tracks. I’m referring to the tracks that divide the area that looks like this from the area that looks like that. Although some communities might not be divided by physical train tracks, they are divided by invisibly visible barriers of community landscape. Drive far enough one direction, and you will see what I’m talking about. When we get out of our comfortable little circles and go across the tracks, we begin to change from the inside out.
I thought the blockbuster movie The Blind Side provided an excellent illustration of the outreach that happens when people go across the tracks. When Christians get out of their comfort zones, their eyes are opened wide. “The Church” truly becomes the hands and feet of Christ in a community that’s less than a 20-minute drive from their suburban utopia.
In the movie The Blind Side, Sandra Bullock plays the role of Leigh Anne Tuohy. The Tuohy’s are a Christian family led by wealthy restaurant chain owner Sean Tuohy, played by Tim McGraw. The short and skinny on the movie is the fact that a kid from the other side of the tracks gets a shot to attend a rich private school, the Tuohy’s adopt him, he learns how to read, gets his grades up, becomes an excellent right tackle, learns to protect the quarterback’s blind side, goes on to play college ball at Ole Miss, and eventually gets drafted in the 2009 NFL by the Baltimore Ravens. There were several scenes in the movie where Lee Anne Tuohy was heartbroken by what she experienced in “The Hood” only 20 minutes from her beautiful suburban home in an area that she never realized existed.
She began to have a real desire to reach out and give to a need that she was totally unaware of. She even confronted some of her rich swanky girlfriends about their negative stereotypes as she had a desire to connect with and change a community that she never knew existed. Her perspective had changed: Change Your Perspective, Change the Game. The Blind Side has changed the game for the millions of people. The movie will continue to impact future generations, as it reminds us that small pushes over time will result in big changes.
The Church has a blind side, and it’s time to face that blind side with boldness. The Church is called to love people, and we are called to love our neighbor. That neighbor we are called to love is not only the one that lives next door or in the impoverished community over seas. We are called to love that neighbor that lives across the tracks, no matter which side of the tracks you are on. The Church has a blind side, and it’s the comfortable recliner of a pew called comfortable familiarity. It’s time to cover the Church’s blind side!
We don’t have to go across the world to provide for those in need… sometimes, we need to simply reach across the tracks!
What do you think?
