Some of my favorite church services have been out in nature. A walk through tall pines just God and I as the sun is gently streaming through the trees onto the dark forest floor. Sitting in a fishing boat…not catching a lick of fish… with my family… listening to the loons call out to each other and munching on sandwiches my mom packed ahead of time. The crackle of a campfire, someone strumming a guitar, and my fingers gooey with SMORES remnants. Aaah, those “Life is Good” moments.
The other day I realized a new kind of “church” I hadn’t considered before. Its about as real and raw as you can get and its a slum. Although I know Jesus desires his kids to know His love and to be lifted from the poverty they experience…I can’t help but see Him smile as He sees his kids being exactly who they are. They can’t hide behind expensive clothes, make-up can’t cover the woman who “fell” down the stairs, you can’t deny the threadbare clothes of a teenage mama, or bulging belly of a little boy who has worms, you can’t miss the kids that don’t have shoes, or the “elder” who smells of alcohol, its hard to deny the “parishioner” who just peed outside their hut. In the church we preach about loving all…but when it comes down to it…EVERY last person that attends a church judges someone in some way.
In the slums Jesus says COME…and I know if you could physically see Jesus standing in front of your church He would say COME to the teenage boy confused about his sexual identity, COME to the couple who’s marriage is falling apart, the women who’s live-in boyfriend just got sent to prison, or the ladies dressed a bit inappropriate for church. He’d say COME to every last one of them…He wouldn’t wait for them to smell good, behave a certain way, or show up on time…He’s just say COME….He’d probably even encourage them to sit up front so He could be close…look them in the eye…and just let them MELT like butta by just being in His presence.
What would the church look like if people started showing up in pajama’s or they weren’t allowed to come unless they invited / brought their neighbors? What if people couldn’t come to church unless they wrote or spoke out their story of how messed up they were…and what if regardless of how messed up we ALL are…we just figured out a new way to LOVE people…even the kind of people that really creep us out or irritate us?
There are nights I’m being attacked by mosquitos or just plain can’t sleep…and I wonder when I get home if there’s a way to start making church look really different…and how many people will “tolerate” the kind of church I know Jesus would want…with no walls and just a whole lot of LOVE to spare.
