"The doors of some churches are closed to more people than we either realize or care to admit. What type of person fits into your church? Would Christ's congregation, those whom He spent His life ministering to, be welcome in your church today? If we can't show Christ's love to a hurting world, who will? You can be sure that Satan's doors will always be open!" p.234 Satan's Underground: The Extraordinary Story of One Woman's Escape by Lauren Stratford
What type of person fits into your church? again....
What type of person fits into your church?
This is a question that Stu and I have evaluated as we visited different churches this past year. The answer to that question tells a lot about the church itself.
Would Christ's congregation, those whom He spent His life ministering to, be welcome in your church today? again...
Would Christ's congregation, those whom He spent His life ministering to, be welcome in your church today?
Would they? If not.....why not? Are we so righteous? Are we so religious? as to turn a blind eye to the oppressed in our own towns? Is the Church only and exclusively for believers or is it a place for conversion?
Do we expect too much from one who is searching....and not saved? Do we really 'care' to invest in these people's lives? Do we love them?
I've felt conviction over these questions as I wrapped up this book this morning.The lady who dresses immodestly and has a big mouth at The Lord's Day Meeting often bugs me. I confess, selfishly I want my 'meaty teaching' without the distraction of those who NEED THE LORD!
1 Cor. 14:23 - 25 – 23.If, therefore, the whole church comes together and all speak in tongues, and outsiders or unbelievers enter, will they not say that you are out of your minds? 24.But if all prophesy, and an unbeliever or outsider enters, he is convicted by all, he is called to account by all, 25.the secrets of his heart are disclosed, and so, falling on his face, he will worship God and declare that God is really among you.
will they not say that you are out of your minds? 24.But if all prophesy, and an unbeliever or outsider enters, he is convicted by all, he is called to account by all, 25.the secrets of his heart are disclosed, and so, Unbelievers will come to the church gatherings.....and bring their 'junk' with them. The Church's (saved believers) responsibility is to be so close to God that the unbeliever falls on his face to also worship this undenying God who is among us. Where is the Church on this level? Where am I?
We went to a church a couple weeks ago that said in its program that children weren't welcome in the service. This isn't what you're talking about exactly, but where children aren't welcome I'm not either. Jesus welcomed the children and the sinners!
ReplyDeleteHmmmmm, you always make me think. I read something else along these lines the other day--saying something about a person being drawn to a particular church because they were so loving and seemed a close-knit family. They were showered with love and attention until they 'joined' and then they were expected to sort of fend for themselves and they felt betrayed and like they had been misled.
ReplyDeleteThen again, this may not be exactly what you're talking about, b/c I think you might be talking about a visitor being 'shunned' because they are supposedly too big of sinners to be redeemed--is that what you're saying?
You asked: "Is the church a place for conversion?" I think: hmmm, is the church a place?
You asked: "Do we love them?"
ReplyDeleteAnd my completely uncensored response is: "HA! You're kidding right?! We don't begin to even know what love is! We don't even know what it is to love the fellow Christian who is a little more *difficult* to like!"
I struggle so much with selfishness and I want to quit trying to love because it's just exhausting. Only by removing the pathetic excuse for my human love and being filled with Christ's love can I even begin to love "them" (whoever 'them' may be! lol).
The pastor of my church referred to this just this morning. He said that some churches were just social clubs. I know that is sort of harsh, but having moved all over the place and visited many, many churches, I will say that I have to agree to a certain extent. It's not that the word isn't being preached and it's not that a visitor card isn't filled out for a follow up phone call...maybe. But, especially for the really large churches I visited, they were very cliquey and weren't very welcoming.
ReplyDeleteAs "the church" we should all be working for God and no matter what building we are in we should all be thankful that we are able to come together as one body of Christ! And most importantly, we should love our neighbor as we love ourself...and as we love our clique.
I remember at a church I used to go to in Ottumwa, the youth pastor stood up and told that he had visited that church long before he became the youth pastor, and he got there kind of late and everyone was already sitting in their usual seats and no one would move to let him sit down. That's just not right. It would be hard for me to go pastor a church that I had been treated like that in, but God says turn the other cheek and He works in mysterious ways and the youth pastor made a sermon out of it and it stuck with me.