aving America could be easier than we think. There’s concern about what our children hear and learn due to the excessive influence of a godless pop culture that has no regard for Judeo Christian beliefs. 

What if moral America were silenced, and an amoral media was all that was left? What could we do?

Jesus only had 12 men to help him change the course of history. Surely a country of committed men and women could change the world today – one block at a time, each beginning with our own block.

In his book “Connect,” Edward M. Hallowell, M.D. tells the story of a woman who wanted to know her neighbors. She decided to organize a block party. Three days before the meeting she went door-to-door, distributed fliers and issued personal invitations. Eighty percent of the people on her block came, and they all said the same thing: they had wanted to get to know each other and didn’t know what to do. She created a community by one act of outreach.

If a couple reaches out to the single mom on the block and offers to keep her children Saturday so she can go to the mall or take in a movie, the time away from home might be as refreshing as a vacation. If they offer her $20 to spend, it would be an even greater blessing.

Sunday night would be a great time to have cake and coffee and invite several neighbors to come for dessert.

Guys could offer to help rake a neighbor’s leaves or wash the car. There are a million ways to let those around us know we’re interested in them.

In Keith Miller’s book, “The Becomers,” he cites a study to determine the number-one problem in the United States. The researchers were surprised when the cause turned out to be loneliness.  More than 300 million people in this country are so disconnected they feel alone, and many fear the future.

That’s especially true for the elderly. Most often the television is their major connection to the outside world, without human warmth or touch. 

Ask someone who lives alone to have lunch with you. Invite them to Sunday dinner. Maybe they would like to go to church with you.

Everyone longs for love at some level. God made us so that we need each other. If believers aren’t reaching across the divide to those who don’t know what Christ said about how we should live, how will they understand a loving God who can change their lives forever?

We may not like the single mom down the block because we see men there or beer bottles in her trash, but she just wants someone to love her. People either find the truth and hold out for the real thing, or they accept a substitute. For them to know what real love looks like, we’ll have to show them.  

The grouchy old man who lives alone wasn’t born a grouch. Love can crumble his crusty exterior and cause his life to find new hope and meaning. We too often look at the outside of the grumpy guy and don’t see the hurts and disappointments that caused him to give up on life’s dreams. If God can overlook my faults, I should be willing to overlook others’ faults.

As Christians, we’re to represent God. It’s up to us to wipe those tears, hold those trembling hands, give people in the grocery store a smile, and be God’s agents for real change – changes of heart, one block at a time.

Editor's note: This article is an op-ed and, therefore, reflects the opinions and experiences of the writer.