Why is it that many people who claim to be Christians in America are condescending and carry around a “holier than thou” attitude? Why do nonbelievers squirm when they are invited to church with a friend? Why do teenagers prefer parties to youth group?
I was in a store and the song playing was Toby Keith’s “I Love this Bar”. Here is a list of the people he finds at the bar:
- winners
- losers
- chain smokers
- boozers
- yuppies
- bikers
- thirsty hitchhikers
- cowboys
- truckers
- brokenhearted fools
- suckers
The chorus is when God grabbed my attention though. Remember that this song is about a bar.
I love this bar
It’s my kind of place
Just walkin’ through the front door
Puts a big smile on my face
It ain’t too far, come as you are
Hmm, hmm, hmm I love this bar
COME AS YOU ARE. The bar doesn’t care who you are. It doesn’t care about your past. It doesn’t judge you when you haven’t showered. It welcomes any and everybody with a smile. It doesn’t matter if you’re homeless or if you’re a millionaire. Relationships are formed between the people who work there and the patrons. In many ways, a bar can be a safe haven for those who aren’t accepted elsewhere.
I think its time that the church takes a lesson from the bar.
I haven’t seen a hooker in church in my entire life. I also haven’t seen very many homeless people. I don’t see a lot of “come as you are” people in church. I see masks. I see people wearing pantyhose and collared shirts and pretending that their life isn’t falling apart the other 167 hours of the week.
As a whole, the American church would not be what I call welcoming. I’ll freely admit that I have been part of the problem. Growing up in church we are taught to only hang out with other Christians and to stay away from nonbelievers. We are taught that if we associate with “bad” people, our reputation as a child of God could be called into question.
THAT IS SO MUCH BOLOGNA!!!!
Don’t take my word for it. In Mark 2:15-17 it says, “While Jesus was having dinner at Levi’s house, many tax collectors and sinners were eating with him and his disciples, for there were many who followed him. When the teachers of the law who were Pharisees saw him eating with the sinners and tax collectors, they asked his disciples: “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?” On hearing this, Jesus said to them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.””
If we are the body, why aren’t His hands reaching? Jesus didn’t reject people because they were “bad” or “unclean”. He sought them out and loved them fiercely. Think about where you were when Jesus found you. He didn’t pass you over because your past was too bad. He didn’t scrunch up His nose and fake a smile to be polite. He opened His arms and welcomed you in.
As a church, we should be seeking the broken, the hurting, the lost. When we go to church we shouldn’t be staring at a sea of “perfect” Christians. We should see everyone-as they are. Church shouldn’t be a place where we hide our imperfections but rather where we can seek support and community with other believers who encourage us and walk with us through our trials.
Isolation is the best tool of the enemy. At training camp we heard someone say that the reason isolation is so effective is because the enemy can tell you as many lies as he wants and no one is there to tell you the truth.
Its time that the church steps up and offers community rather than facade. The bar shouldn’t be more welcoming than your Sunday school class.
My challenge for you individually is to seek out 3 people this week that you wouldn’t normally find in church and love them fiercely and without judgment. No, that doesn’t mean going around hugging homeless people (although that isn’t a terrible idea). What I mean by loving them is treating them as your equal. See them as they are through the eyes of Jesus. Instead of thinking about it as stooping to their level, bring them up to the level Jesus would put them on. Love is about honor and respect. Do it, and do it well.
I would LOVE to hear about the people you meet, and I will be following up with a blog about the new friends I make in the following week. Please feel free to contact me about your friends too!
Blessings
xo Amanda
