This month we have gotten the opportunity to go out in the community and do some street evangelism. That means we go into a certain town or village with a translator and start conversations with people with the intent of sharing Christ’s love and message of hope. I love this type of ministry now. When we started this journey I was scared to death to walk up to strangers and tell them about Jesus. Before the race the Lord had developed my love and passion for evangelism of people I know. Throughout the race he has grown that from just people I know to a passion for every person I come in contact with to try and reach with the gospel. Now it comes second nature and one of my favorite things to do. Seeing God move gets me and i can’t wait to see what he is going to do next.
Though I have loved evangelizing in Haiti and seen God move in so many instances, my heart is deeply burdened by a common theme I have seen here. When you ask people why they don’t go to church most of them will tell you they don’t have the right clothes. At the beginning I explained to them God doesn’t care. He looks at your heart not your wardrobe. But I was gently informed that these people really can’t go to church if they aren’t dressed properly. They have ushers at the door of most all churches here that will not let you in if you aren’t dressed well.
That burns me up! I was so angry when I first heard it. If I’m honest I thought some pretty terrible things about the church leaders who make these rules.
Then the Holy Spirit spoke some truth into my heart. Think about churches in America or some I’ve attended. Maybe it isn’t dress, but we all have our human rules don’t we? Maybe it’s the sin that people are carrying, maybe it’s the something else that makes them different. I’ve been guilty of thinking in my mind that a certain person doesn’t belong here. We are all guilty aren’t we? We make up these stupid rules about what honors God that aren’t even biblical. I’m not ridiculing the Haitian churches. It’s part of their culture. Yes it’s wrong, but maybe we should all take a step back and check our thinking. How are we treating people that step through the doors of our churches on Sunday? Are we welcoming them with open arms like Jesus does?
The truth is Jesus loved us all enough to die for us before we even knew it, before we knew how to follow him, when we were dirty and not “dressed properly”. He welcomes us to the altar just as we are! Let’s be like that in our churches. I will continue to pray for the leaders here to have their eyes opened and the churches in America as well that suffer from similar problems. I encourage you to do the same.
It’s okay to have righteous anger if you take action to correct the problem. So instead of judging I choose to love these churches by bathing them in prayer and reminding people who have been hurt by them that there is a God who loves them and accepts them as they are. If you have been hurt by a church I urge you to take another look at Christ and seek what he says. Humans are flawed, even well meaning Christians. I would love to have a conversation with you. You can contact me through my blog. Meet the real Jesus and find out what he has to say about you!
